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The purpose of our research and really, what we might describe as our life's work, is to help entrepreneurs and others understand what must be done to build sustainably successful organizations^®. We have been helping organizational leaders plan for and implement the transitions required to promote long-term success for almost 40 years. This book will summarize our methods, tools, and insights in a practical and systematic way.

Two Types of Transitions Required for Sustainable Success

Our research and experience have shown that there are two different but related types of transitions that must be made at different stages of growth in order for an organization to continue to flourish and grow successfully.

One type of transition concerns the founder or ultimate leader of an organization – which is typically the chief executive officer or CEO. This person must make a variety of personal and professional changes or transitions as their company grows. These include understanding and embracing the changes in the CEO role that need to occur to effectively manage an increasingly larger and more complex organization, developing new skills, adopting a new mindset (that supports, among other things, having increasingly less direct control over results), and changing one's managerial style. For simplicity, we term these the “personal transitions.”

The second type of transition relates to the organization's strategic and “architectural design.” These organizational development transitions can include changes in the organization's systems, processes, or structure, as well as changes to what the company actually does (who its target customers are and what it offers them).

If these two types of transitions are not made effectively, they will have a significant impact on organizational effectiveness, efficiency, and success. In fact, the inability to make effective and appropriate personal and organizational transitions is a key underlying reason why organizations experience problems and, in some cases, fail. This chapter will focus on both types of transitions.