The other day a colleague postulated that all organizations have a maximum maturity/ performance capability plateau dictated by the culture and the resources.  I took strong exception to this opinion.

Its all about leadership

In high performing organizations (or high performing teams) the performance/ maturity bar moves higher continously.  Sitting on ones laurels (i.e., stagnating) leads results on a downward slope.

The culture of the organization/ team is motivated by leadership.  In the best case scenarios everyone takes some leadership role and the motivating effect is multiplied.

You get what you believe

If you believe some artificial maturity/ performance barrier exists it likely will.  It is a self fullfilling prophesy.  Continual striving for greater success does not happen by magic.

The leadership and of course the team members themselves need to both buy-in and therefore support this approach.  A belief that a hard ceiling exists is a powerful inhibitor.

For Example

My colleague noted, personal experience has led to their belief the plateau exists.  In their experience it always appears at some point. While the world might not be full of high performing organizations, they do exist.

Tesla, Apple, Google are all top of mind obvious examples of organizations that continually strive for improvement.  These are not static companies.  Constant change for the better is clearly  built into their DNA.

This companies outcomes speak for themselves.

So for me, it is a real hot button.  You need to believe in better and continously put out the effort to get there.  It never stops.  And if you believe otherwise, sadly it will probably be true.