Learning to drive a car / Building an organization

Sitting in CCD ( an Indian version of Starbucks The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary) I was trying to think the various phases which an organization grows and how we can map different strategies like ( Deal Space, Negotiation, Customer Acquisition etc) to the stages of the organization. In the process I could see an interesting analogy with the way we drive or learn to drive .... :)

Stages of Organization life cycle

1.) Conceptualization and Planning Phase-> The process of selecting a car and doing estimation in terms of 'cost of acquisition' vs the benefits; excitement, dreams ....

2.) Inception Phase-> Driving the car with 'Learners' tag; fear, inhibition, frustration, bootstrap

3.) Sustain Phase -> Driving the car removing the 'L' tag and surviving any major crash; learning the nuisances of driving the rules, the people, the road...

4.) Stabilization Phase -> Driving the car with Music and AC on; enjoying long drives, loving the journey

5.) Growth Phase -> Switching to a bigger model or getting a chauffeur to drive; innovation, funding

The challenges are both at the micro and the macro level, to successfully cross the various phases and also knowing upfront the checkpoints for jumping to the next stages

More in the next blogs

Cheerio
Mitul