The simplest way to explain predictable success is as organizational flow. The organization is in such a state that decisions are made quickly and easily and that plans are executed near-flawlessly. Almost every business owner or executive wants their organization in predictable success, but getting there is often more than they bargained for. In his new book, aptly titled Predictable Success, Les McKeown explains the seven-stage lifecycle that every organization must go through: Early Struggle, Fun, Whitewater, Predictable Success, Treadmill, The Big Rut and Death Rattle.

You’ll notice right away that Predictable Success is not the end stage; it is the middle. McKeown promotes a realistic view of company lifecycles by recognizing that getting there is not the only challenge, staying in Predictable Success is equally daunting for owners or leaders to achieve. McKeown devotes a chapter to explaining each stage and does so in such a way that you ought to be able to recognize immediately what stage your organization is in. With years of experience launching, saving and paying respects to dead companies, Les packs each chapter with personal stories and advice on how to move to the next stage (or move back to if you’ve overshot Predictable Success).

As one who straddles the line between scholar and practitioner, I especially appreciated Les’ recognition throughout the book of just how organizational design and structure serve as a cause of (and solution to) many of an organization’s problems. I’d be interested to see an added chapter (perhaps in the second edition) on how McKeown’s lifecycle model could be applied to nonprofit organizations. Still, Predictable Success reveals much about how to “parent” your organization through its different stages of growth.