Scaling Startups: Healthy + Smart
As startups pursue rapid growth, they often focus intensely on metrics, goals, funding, and other markers of conventional success. But organisational experts argue there's another critical ingredient for sustainable growth: organizational health.
During an EdenBase Learning Circle, focused on superscaling products and teams, insights from Gokce Gizer Clover (Founder, Mercury Change), show that healthy organizations are built on a foundation of trust, honest and open communication, and clarity and alignment around vision and values. Unhealthy organizations manifests in politics, confusion, and poor morale. The combination of smart and healthy organizations lead to sustainable scale
So how do you build a smart and healthy organization that scales?
As startups pursue rapid growth, they often focus intensely on metrics, goals, funding, and other markers of conventional success. But organisational experts argue there's another critical ingredient for sustainable growth: organizational health.
During an EdenBase Learning Circle, focused on superscaling products and teams, insights from Gokce Gizer Clover (Founder, Mercury Change), show that healthy organizations are built on a foundation of trust, honest and open communication, and clarity and alignment around vision and values. Unhealthy organizations manifests in politics, confusion, and poor morale. The combination of smart and healthy organizations lead to sustainable scale
So how do you build a smart and healthy organization that scales?
TDLR
Emphasize Healthy Organizations: Ensure sustainable growth by prioritizing a healthy organization, built on trust, honest and open communication, psychological safety, and shared values.
Communication: Leaders should consistently convey the company’s vision and context, modeling vulnerability and rewarding honest feedback.
Core Values: Establish and maintain a few core values, making hiring and rewarding decisions based on adherence to them.
Intentional Culture-Shaping: Invest in intentional, strategic culture-shaping that aligns with company goals and is designed for longevity beyond rapid growth periods.
Make Honest & Open Communication a Default
Leaders must overcommunicate context, vision, priorities and results. Constant clarity creates alignment and belief. Create processes where people regularly check-in on goals and reconfirm shared focus.
Some examples:
Hold weekly or monthly town halls to update on company news
Send regular email newsletters re-stating vision and priorities
Begin meetings with quick reminders of key objectives
Psychological Safety Starts at the Top
Does your team feel psychologically safe to voice concerns, ask questions, or disagree? Leaders must model openness and then reward it in others. Institute regular touch points to surface and address issues early.
Consider:
Anonymous surveys to surface concerns
Explicitly encourage critical feedback
Align on Values
Define the behaviours and principles you want to uphold. Hire and reward people who demonstrate them. Shaping culture isn't inventing it; it's deciding what matters and taking steps to nurture and protect it.
Codify 3-5 core values
Reference values in job descriptions and interview questions
Call out examples of values in action in team meetings
Make Goals Open Source
Cascading goals via OKRs, KPIs or other frameworks help align priorities. But they only work if everyone understands how their role ladders up to them.
Make company goals visible to all employees
Managers should align team goals to company objectives
Check in on goal progress regularly in 1:1s and team meetings
Healthy Culture Won't Happen By Accident
It requires intention, investment and constant nurturing from leaders. But it powers sustainable growth that no startup can achieve through strategy and mechanics alone. Use these tips to build a startup prepared to flourish at any scale.
