Solutions
Life Cycle Analysis
Dr. Susan Kenny Stevens defines five major benefits from engaging in Lifecycle Analysis in her seminal work 'Nonprofit Lifecycles: Stage-Based Wisdom for Nonprofit Capacity.'
1. Establishing a diagnostic starting point that helps leadership respond appropriately to an organization’s current characteristics.
2. Setting realistic expectations for the typical characteristics one might assume to find at a specific stage of development.
3. Recognizing when characteristics are out of sync for a particular stage of development.
4. De-personalizing organizational weaknesses and reframing growing pains as predictable for that developmental stage.
5. Empowering stakeholders to become more effective and articulate advocates.
Each lifecycle stage exhibits particular challenges and opportunities. Understanding which stage your organization is currently in and the typical challenges and opportunities inherent in that stage can help leadership feel less isolated, know what is normal, plan for the future, put problems in context and manage transition more effectively.
Further, it is an excellent diagnostic tool to analyze and understand which capacity builders in your organization need strengthening in order to ensure all foundational elements are contributing to vibrancy.
Life Cycle Analysis is a day-long workshop usually conducted with Board and Staff together. The end result should be complete alignment around a clear understanding of where the organization is in its journey, what needs to be focused on in order to move into the next cycle, and a clear plan to get there.