Organizational Congruence with Mission

It often happens that nonprofit organizational internals are not congruent with organizational mission, resulting in reduced mission fulfillment, as this article from Stanford Social Innovation Review notes.

For organizations understanding the connection between the discipline of organizational development and the management of nonprofit organizations—as posted previously—this would not be much of a problem

An excerpt from the Review article.

“In the 1980s, when I was a young executive director of a children’s mental health organization, I first noticed a phenomenon that I later discovered to be widespread throughout the nonprofit sector. The emotionally troubled young clients of one of our day treatment programs were increasingly acting out, reaching dangerous levels of distress and even violence. I had to find out why, and also how to reverse this dangerous behavioral trend. Observing the program in action, I immediately noticed that the staff members caring for these children were tense and unusually contentious, openly bickering among themselves and in front of the children.

“We held an off-site retreat for the staff soon thereafter. I encouraged participants to talk not about the kids, but about their own relationships with one another. They expressed their pent-up anger and frustration, and it was clear that communication within the group had broken down. Amid lots of tears and hard work, we first identified the main problems troubling the group: tensions about who worked harder, and longer, and better. Once the staff articulated their issues and feelings, they agreed to try to rebuild the team’s cohesion.

“As the retreat drew to a close, some people wondered aloud whether this clearing of the air would do anything to reduce the kids’ acting out. As staff members began to show each other increased respect and care, the kids did indeed calm down.

“When I reflected on this experience, it struck me as highly ironic, if not downright embarrassing, that an organization devoted to improving mental health had itself fallen so deeply into dysfunction. Yet in my 30 years working in and consulting to nonprofits, I have come to realize that this was not an isolated incident: Nonprofits tend to recreate within their own organizational cultures the problems they are trying to solve in society. I call this phenomenon the nonprofit paradox.

“Take, for instance, a human rights organization whose mission was to prevent torture. Despite this laudable goal, one of the group’s leaders left subordinates feeling terrorized. Staff members consequently—and without awareness of the irony—described working in the organization as “torture.”

“A national nonprofit dedicated to eradicating child abuse faced a similar issue. The staff perceived (with reason, in my opinion) their CEO to be abusive, neglectful, and power mad. As a result, they adopted classic abuse avoidance behaviors, such as avoiding contact with him, delaying the delivery of bad news, and generally making themselves invisible. In a family therapy context, these behaviors would be diagnosed as pathological.

“An environmental advocacy organization likewise recreated within its walls the very problem it was attempting to solve. Although aiming to save forests by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the organization mailed a prodigious number of paper fundraising solicitations and relied heavily on air travel, even when phone conferences would have sufficed. Consequently, it generated an enormous carbon footprint.”