10 Signs of "Big Company Disease"

How can you determine if your company has succumbed to the dreaded big company disease (BCD)? Take a look at my symptoms below and perform a self-diagnosis on your current company.

1. 80% of your time is spent in meetings, none of which have a formal agenda. Attendance is spotty, half of the attendees will be more interested in responding to emails on their phones than participating in the discussion, and there is no accountability or follow-up for any next steps discussed. Attendees from department X are more likely than not to roll their eyes when an attendee from department Y speaks about ways to improve current processes.
2. The concept of “we win as a team or lose as a team” is replaced with the belief in department-level victories. How many times have you heard something like this: "Sure, our company lost money this fiscal year, but heck, my department kicked butt and we did everything we were asked. It’s not my fault that the other teams didn’t produce. I deserve my bonus - will it be bigger than last year’s?”.
3. Innovation, strategic change, and process improvement are replaced with bureaucracy, CYA activities, and indecision. Many companies erroneously believe that postponing decisions is a safe and secure way of moving into the future. On the contrary, the fear of making a wrong decision results in product or service stagnation, loss of market share, and a disengagement of top performing employees.
4. There is a noticeable movement away from discussing the needs or interests of the company’s customers. Somehow employees forget or otherwise lose sight of how revenue is generated and their focus moves towards the inner workings of the big machine and how to survive corporate politics.
5. New hires are almost always hired from the same or a similar industry because hiring becomes a process of selecting the safest candidate. The thinking goes like this: this hire may not set the world on fire, but at least no one can second guess my decision if the hire doesn’t work out.
6. There is a unwavering loyalty to long term employees regardless of their current contributions to the company. Somehow the for-profit company also transitions into a charity at the expense of growth.
7. Becoming a follower is seen as a much safer career choice than attempting to lead. This becomes a corporate game of "Whack-A-Mole", with everyone keeping their heads down and finding safety in numbers.
8. The company strategy, whether it is realized or not, is to avoid failing quickly. Instead, failure becomes a long and painful process due to each individual's fear of leading unsuccessful projects and the resulting repercussions. Instead of promoting the individual with the biggest project successes or largest impact on the bottom line, often the promotion is awarded to the person who has failed the least. Ironically, failing quickly and then improving on the failure is inherently the better strategic option.
9. There is no accountability at any level other than perhaps at the highest levels of corporate management. Continued employment is almost guaranteed as long as you don’t rock the boat or question the status quo.
10. Strategic decisions and solutions are made indirectly as a result of tactical project requirements. Unfortunately, these decisions seem safer and less risky due to the urgent and reactive nature of active projects with imminent deadlines. Ideally, strategy should be driven by the deep thinkers and not by those whose strength is tactical execution.

One cause of our financial troubles lies in ‘big company disease,’ characterized by arrogance, conceit, a decline in the spirit to challenge oneself, and a lack of customer perspective - Kozo Takahashi, President of Sharp Corporation

The good news is that BCD is treatable and preventable. In order to better protect our companies, we must remain aware of the telltale signs and resist the urge to simply follow the herd. Don't be afraid to bring the passion, innovation, and positive energy of a startup to your big company.

Like my post? Agree? Disagree? Do you have other top indicators that you have observed that perhaps I have missed? If so, I would appreciate hearing from you.