RE: Summary of Responses: Whirlers and Environments (Long)

["krupp, marguerite" <krupp_marguerite -at- emc -dot- com>]

Eric wrote:

>I'd hate to imagine the documentation department of a post-startup
>company if the structure and organzation was established by someone
>with a startup mindset and no experience with functional
>pubs groups in large organizations. 

.........................
I wish it WERE an imaginary situation! Been there, done that! More to the
point, I've had to pick up the pieces after the "cowboys" left town. Not a
pretty sight. The people who flourish in the startup environment usually
chafe under the perceived restrictions that become necessary as the
organization grows and matures. So they leave.

Once a company size passes about 50 people, it's no longer possible for
everyone to schmooze daily with everyone else, so things go through the
cracks, and people start getting unhappy. In a startup, you have to put in
long hours and turn on a dime. Once you have a real customer base and enough
players on the team to let everyone have something resembling a life outside
work, you need to have at least a minimal set of procedures in place to make
sure that the right things get done, and that they get done right.

Now where did I put that mop and pail? <G>

Marguerite