Hallmarks of Cancer

Hanahan and Weinberg described the six ways in which cancer cells differ from ordinary cells – - Self-sufficiency in growth signalling - Insensitivity to anti-growth signals - Evasion of apoptosis (cell death) - Limitless replication potential - Sustained vascularity (angiogenesis) - Tissue invasion and metastasis As I think about these characteristics I’m struck by the similarities with our large corporate enterprises. When our banks have become ‘Too big to fail’ we definitely have a problem. Normal growth might reasonably be expected to reflect the needs of an organisation to respond to its markets and host communities. However, if an organisation becomes inward looking and inter-departmentally competitive, it is quite happy to grow internal fiefdoms simply because it can and at the expense of its customers and the communities which depend on it. Internal politicking can prevent balanced growth and result in the abandonment of moderating (anti-growth) influences. Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas. Internal demagogues persuade and bully their way to continued financial support – even at the expense of the health of the organisation. They have no sense of timely withdrawal, handover or graceful decline. Any ‘winning formula’ is quickly replicated to strengthen the functionality of departments. ‘Departmental angiogenesis’ is a process by which required resources are channelled to the departments and new pipelines established. Finally, in the competitive fray between departments, similar ‘winning formulas’ become established throughout the organisation resulting in a self-serving scramble for resources which the organisation cannot sustain. In short, customer service allows organisations to thrive; internal politicking causes them to die. Conventional approaches to managing such illnesses might involve the appointment of management consultants to ‘streamline’ operations, a euphemism for job losses – the corporate equivalent of surgery. Severe internal competition that requires workers to interview for a reduced number of jobs, closure of pension schemes, pension fund ‘holidays’, changes of ‘Ts and Cs’ etc can create a toxic environment that causes good people to leave. Such ‘corporate chemotherapy’ aims to bring the organisation to the point of death in the hope of saving it. Corporate radiotherapy might look like the victimisation / destruction of a particular department and holding it as an example to others of what happens to those who step out of line. Enlightened approaches to corporate health will in future ‘cure’ them by retaining the focus on why they exist at all – in the service of the whole and of their host communities. The emphasis will shift to creating ‘leaderful environments’ where local decisions are made using clear guidelines that refocus attention ‘back to basics’. Sadly, such common sense is seldom common and the ‘Slash, Poison and Burn’ model is likely to be with us for some time.