As companies age, they lose their flexibility and their appeal to customers in the marketplace. We have described this aging process with a metaphor and created the River Lifecycle Model. Your organization’s (product, business unit, process, etc.) location on the “river” is indicative of how effective you’re being, and what it’s going to take to reinvent yourself. So that’s pretty useful to know, is it not? Well there are many ways to tell, but a clear indication is the cultural “tone” and general behavior of the employees. Take this test for yourself, which of the qualities below describes your business (department, product line, process, etc.)?

River Lifecycle Model
Qualities in Stages of the Lifecycle

Stage———People are—–Cultural tone
Wellspring —Adventurous– -Hopeful
Rapids——–Cocky———-Enthusiastic
Flats———-Arrogant ——Sarcastic
Swamp——-Defensive——Cynical
Whirlpool—–Desperate——Hopeless

(Thanks to Marsha Clark for the suggesting some of these terms.)