Succession - So Easy To Say If You Don't Have To Do It

Almost from the beginning of Theodora, it has been recognized by donors and volunteers that the project is heavily dependent upon my personal efforts. As a start-up, entrepreneurial venture, that is no surprise. 

It has also been pointed out by many people (especially those with high interest but not high time engagement) this dependence is a significant risk. That is not a particularly astounding observation. But there are certain realities when you are small, lacking in financial resources, and have a massive experience gap between the top leader and the rest in the organization. So no matter how aware you are of the problem, if you don't have the resources, there is a limit to what you can actually do.

Happily, we are finally getting to a point where enough of our people are advancing in their experience* to start doing real work on the succession risk.

*I say this with a grain of salt. You aren't going to take people you are transforming from zero U.S. (or any other) business experience and who are really young, and have them mimic someone with decades of experience.

This initial step is taking the form of a Catastrophic Succession Planning Process. The name says exactly what it is. It is a way of planning to take care of a catastrophic eventuality...such as the founder being recalled by his alien masters to the mother ship. You identify the most important risks and you develop a specific action path for dealing with them. Catastrophic Succession Plans are very specific and designed to deal with the immediate consequences of a loss. It is the first step toward the more comprehensive institutional succession process.

Our goal is to have this in place by the end of the year.