The 6 Stages Every Organization Goes Through as it Matures

This article was written about my new course Organizational Learning & Development on LinkedIn Learning.

Part of being a strategic learning and development team is having a plan for not just today’s business needs, but also of the needs of the business moving forward. Good thing, from an L&D perspective, that’s not as hard as it sounds.

“Organizations actually grow and change in predictable ways, moving through various stages of development, and your learning strategy needs to align accordingly,” L&D consultant Britt Andreatta said in her LinkedIn Learning course, Organizational Learning and Development.

Specifically, organizations go through six stages as they mature, outlined in the Greiner Curve. By identifying what stage your organization is in, you can both better understand what learning is the most critical for your organization right now, and plan for the future, Andreatta said.
What is the Greiner Curve?

The Greiner Curve was created by Larry Greiner, a professor at USC’s Marshall School of Business. Through his research, he identified the six phases organizations go through as they mature.

While an organization is within a stage, it’s a time of relative stability. However, every stage inevitably leads to a crisis point, which forces the organization to transform. Learning plays a vital role in helping leaders and employees make these transitions successfully.

It’s worth noting that organizations go through these phases at very different speeds. For example, a large financial institution might go through them much slower than a high-growth tech company. By identifying what stage your organization is in, you can uncover what learnings are most essential and also be prepared for what learnings will be needed in the near future as well.

Read the rest of this post at the LinkedIn Learning blog.