There are many things that make for a successful organization, many factors that contribute to the end state.  I won't pretend to know all of them, or even most of them, but I will talk about a few that I think are major components of corporate success.  Each post in this series will address one of these factors.  I work for a very large organization that I feel is a complete failure, so my opinions are based on that which I see every day.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about large, successful organizations is goals.  Goals are very important things.  Everyone knows that you have to set goals and meet them to be successful, it's not rocket science.  We set financial goals, we set organizational goals, we set goals for all kinds of things.  Sometimes we hide those goals where nobody can see them, sometimes we know that our goals both corporate and personal wouldn't be generally well received.  Those goals are called "agendas".  It seems like everyone has an agenda today.  What happens when the goals, or agenda, of an organization aren't in line with what the customers and clients want?  For example, how about a company who produces some great product that everyone loves and wants, but uses the revenue from that product to fund weapons production to make even more money in the war business.  The customers buy the wonderful product, unaware of the hidden agenda.  The customer thinks the goals of the company are to make a great product, help the environment, and maybe give back to the community.  How would those same customers feel if they knew the true agenda?  If you think that is an unrealistic situation, think again.  It happens everyday on every level.

Governments are another great example.  What is the goal of a government?  Well, in theory, it's a group of people who represent the wants and needs of a large body of people.  The government of the people, for the people, and by the people - right?  Does anyone in North America today really believe in their government?  Governments have hidden agendas too.  A good portion of those agendas are set at the top of the chain.  The people at the top always want to line their pockets.  Good businessmen move up to the top.  You never see an idealist at the top.  You never see anyone at the top of the organization who isn't willing to sacrifice his/her principles.  How can you have trust in someone without principles.  Don't you have principles?  How can they really represent you?

The reason these people get to the places they get to is simple.  The truth is hard to swallow.  You don't want to hear bad news, nobody does.  So the guy the pulls the wool over your eyes wins.  People are easily convinced that things aren't as bad as they seem.  There are people who make an earnest living with this sort of slight of hand move, they are called magicians.  Generally, they are only there to entertain us though, we certainly don't entrust them with our quality of life.