We have Dr Steven Powell, to thank for introducing us to the concept of APOPTOSIS, and it’s metaphorical significance for organisations.
The word literally means ‘falling off’ (the second p is silent as in pterodactyl) and refers to the capacity of cells to self-destruct. Even though it involves cell death, apoptosis serves a healthy and protective role in our bodies.
As apoptosis destroys unwanted cells, mitosis (cell division) makes new cells. While they may seem to be at odds, apoptosis and mitosis work together to keep us healthy. For example, our skin and hair cells are renewed via a continuous cycle of apoptosis and mitosis. So are the cells lining our intestines. Because new cells replace old, worn-out ones, our tissues remain healthy. The average adult human loses between 50 and 70 billion cells each day due to apoptosis.
So what might such a process have to do with healthy organisations?
As we set such an idea against the concept of wise leadership we identified a possible conflict, namely , is it wise to always be searching for growth at all costs?
It was at this point in the conversation that Steve introduced me to ‘apoptosis’.
Looking at many businesses which have experienced a rise and fall, the root cause of their fall has often been an unwillingness to give up the innovation that created their rise.
For example, Henry Ford lost out to General Motors in the 1920s when he refused to replace the Model T.
Such a phenomenon links to Herman Brodie’s work on sunk cost effect and cognitive dissonance, which prevents individuals or organisations giving up something to which they are attached.
Which in turn chimes with the ‘Innovator’s Dilemma’, where we see the rapid decline in the tenure of CEOs and remuneration structures that are far too focused on the short-term.
All conspire to make it almost impossible for leaders of large organisations, especially an already successful one, to make the necessary tough calls and sacrifice a division/category/product (sometimes the sacred cow) in order to survive longer term.
But what if organisations implemented a conscious process of apoptosis, where each year a certain percentage of their products or services were replaced by new practices, without any reluctance to give up the old.
Over a relatively short period a business could reinvent itself yet still be recognised as the same entity through its alignment to values and mission.
We are excited by the idea and see it as a useful way to frame organisational creativity as a welcomed and necessary imperative.