Petty jealousies reign supreme. If the organization did not die during the previous stage, it becomes bureaucratized either because it is politically protected or because it survives in a regulated environment. The critical factor for its survival is not how it satisfies its customers, but how it satisfies those that grant its resources and control the predictability of its behavior. The organization's procedure manuals thicken, paperwork abounds, and rules and policies choke innovation and creativity. There are systems for everything.
Employees play by the book.
This final stage may linger for years while the company slowly dies, or it may arrive suddenly with one massive blow. For each defining stage there is a set of actions. These are the steps required to bring growing companies to Prime or Aging companies back to Prime. Again and again, real companies have challenged perceived fate, and their success validates the principles presented in The Pursuit of Prime.