Founder syndrome

The founder syndrome (also called founderitis ) is a term that describes the situation of young companies. There the founders often have disproportionate power and influence in the company due to initial projects and tasks, which can lead to a number of problems in the organization. The charisma and passion of the founders, which are usually the source of creativity and productivity in the organization, can become a limiting and even negative factor for the organization. It is widely believed that entrepreneurship syndrome occurs in public, commercial, and private organizations. The founder syndrome can strongly influence and limit the growth of an organization or there can be strong divisions within the organization, which is exposed to a sudden surge in demand. It can also lead to an outright failure. There are recognized and widely discussed strategies and ways how you can get the founder syndrome under control and how the organization can continue to grow, despite the given situation.

Symptoms

Typical signs of a founder syndrome in an organization are:

• The identification of the organization is very closely linked to the founders themselves.
• The founders continue to make all large and many small decisions themselves, with or without a formal process . Decisions are usually made in crisis mode with little thought about the consequences. Actionism is often operated and lived. Another feature is the fact that little time is spent on a meaningful strategy and its professional development. It is typical that there is hardly any proper organizational infrastructure or that what is already there is not used properly. Whether there is a z. B. Succession planning is often questionable and therefore another characteristic.
• Key personnel and higher management are usually chosen freely by the founders and are usually based on friendship or other relationships. The roles are usually always supportive for the founders, less to lead the organization itself. Positions are also mostly filled on the basis of personal preferences and less based on skills and experience. This means that some of the employees do not have the right qualifications, are not properly informed and often have to be checked before they can give simple answers and decisions.
• Professionals and employees with a lot of experience often feel that they are misunderstood in their environment, cannot contribute effectively and successfully in a professional manner and cannot bring about changes in order to be successful.
• The above points lead to further problems as the challenges increase significantly. People who question the current process are often ignored, ridiculed, postponed or even removed. The young company works purely reactively instead of proactively .
• The founders are beginning to believe in their own numbers and press. Tax and finance experts should be involved, but founders must learn to be responsible for their own numbers.
• When higher-value tasks and decisions are delegated, the founders can also experience fear phenomena. There is often a lack of necessary and basic management training and B. also psychology .

Solution approach

To get the founder syndrome under control, one of the possible and recommended ways is to recognize the problem and to draw up an action plan in further steps, as well as to involve and inform important people (founders, owners, managers, etc.). The goal must be to transform the organization into a more mature and stronger organization without harming the organization itself or individual persons.

See also

• Peter principle

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Maryll Kleibrink: Diagnosis: Founderitis . In: Executive Update . ASAE. 2004. Retrieved on May 24, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
2. ↑ Carlye Adler: Time to replace yourself . In: CNN Money . CNN. May 8, 2007. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
3. ^ Surviving Founder's Syndrome . National Resources Center. Archived from the original on December 24, 2008. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 22, 2008. 
4. ^ Founder's Syndrome. How Corporations Suffer - and Can Recover . Free Management Library. Retrieved November 23, 2008.