An organization can fail

You are the sun’s rays that warm our earth and give life to flowers, our children. I want my children to be like you and help people.

~

An organization can fail.

If more is always better.
If growth is its own excuse.
If everything must move faster.
If there is too much good.

An organization can fail.

If it does not pay attention.
If it struggles to listen.
If it thinks it knows better.
If technology is always the answer.

An organization can fail.

If it does not seek
What it does not know.
If it never brings on
The right expertise.
If how things look
Gets more effort
Than how things are.

An organization can fail.

If its politics is opportunistic.
Its relationships, transactional.
If it fucks around
And does not find out -
That actually, it turns out,
The rules do apply to it.

An organization can fail.

If it thinks it is breaking things in a good way,
But it is actually breaking things in a bad way.
Or, if it’s doing a bit of both
And can’t tell the difference.

An organization can fail.

If it never catches up with itself.
If there are messes everywhere
And fires to put out.
If it does not keep good books,
Take enough notes,
Maintain the right databases.
Make a budget,
Charge enough for its services,
Or evaluate its costs.

An organization can fail.

If it is in conflict with itself.
If it puts profits first,
Before its nonprofit’s structure,
A structure that cannot hold.
If all it can hold is profits, and losses.
If it is lost, in the sauce —
If it is always at a loss.
If it is like a little round peg
In a big square hole,
Holed up
At the bottom,
Ladderless,
Leaderless.
Alone.

An organization can fail.

Even if it inspired hope.
Or made the world better.
Even if its people were exceptional.
And they did their very best.
Even if you never stopped learning.
Even if you still believe.

An organization can fail,
No explanation, no warning.
An organization can fail,
If things are not right.
An organization can fail,
If for the saviors, it’s not worth saving.
An organization can fail,
Whether wrong or whether right.
An organization can fail,
Even if no one wants it.
An organization can fail,
No matter how important it is.
An organization can fail,
Despite your greatest efforts.
An organization can fail,
No matter how much it hurts.