Waves

11/1/2019

It can at times feel like everything is falling apart. And there is a reason for this. Because it is.’ (Neil Gibb)

I love the provocative spirit of Gibb’s words in this Introduction to his book, ‘The Participation Revolution: How to Ride the Waves of Change in a Terrifyingly Turbulent World’ (2018). The vividly dramatic, apocalyptic language suggests a world in process of fragmentation, disintegration and profound change, shattering old patterns and paradigms and signalling the birth pains of something radically new. It has resonances with Kotter’s burning platform metaphor: change now or die.

We can see glimpses of this shift phenomenon all around us on the world stage: e.g. global warming and related extreme climate change; multinational corporations transcending the power and wealth of nation states; increasing nationalism challenging international alliances and institutions; mass migration across national and cultural boundaries; a postmodern shift in trust from authorities to peers; a digital revolution that is transforming communications, cultures and relationships.

No surprise then that change leadership and management feature so strongly as recurring themes in contemporary leadership literature. Organisations – and people – can feel battered by multiple, relentless and ever-increasing waves of change that often feel outside of their control and yet to which they are nevertheless required to respond. It can leave leaders feeling anxious, bewildered, paralysed and tired. It can leave employees unsettled and anxious about an uncertain future.

Perhaps it’s enough to make anyone feel dizzy and disorientated. What kind of change curve can make sense of our experiences when we face so many changes from so many different directions all at the same time? Gibb proposes learning to ride the waves; a crash course in surfing, if you like. It sounds like a great idea in principle…but how do you do it in practice? If you are a leader, coach, OD professional or trainer, how do you enable others to navigate turbulent waves of change?

34 Comments

Philip Thomas

11/1/2019 12:51:27 pm

Thanks Nick. It's an interesting metaphor and the book will be on my soon to read list.

Nick Wright

11/1/2019 12:52:19 pm

Thanks Philip. I bought a copy in WH Smith's for £1 this week in it's New Year sale. :)

Marianne Johansson

11/1/2019 12:53:27 pm

One way is to join Female Wave of Change.

11/1/2019 12:53:53 pm

Hi Marianne. That sounds intriguing. Can you say more..?

11/1/2019 02:56:05 pm

Female wave of Change is an international network of Females that are in for change and in that change are helping each other.

#FemaleWaveofChange

11/1/2019 02:56:30 pm

Hi Marianne. That sounds great. Thanks for sharing the link!

Mervyn Murray

11/1/2019 02:57:28 pm

Create unshakable faith by doing the right things by people. Teams that believe in each other usually find a way through. Not a definitive answer, I grant you...😀

11/1/2019 02:58:06 pm

Hi Mervyn. I agree: being-with in the midst of change can be a critical success factor.

11/1/2019 09:59:40 pm

Love the Neil Gibb quote! The right blend of cynicism and the practical 😀

11/1/2019 10:00:18 pm

Hi Mervyn. Me too. That's what attracted me to buy the book!

Ewan Menzies

11/1/2019 09:56:35 pm

Great post Nick Wright. I must get a copy of Gibb's book. The method we use is to start with getting clarity on where the organisation is going. So many pay lip service to this. Other's do not know how to define it in tangible and personal terms that everyone can get behind. We don't call them goals or outcomes, we call them Recognition Events. Not enough space here to explain all the steps to enabling the team but happy to jump on a call with you or send you some more info on out method?

11/1/2019 09:58:07 pm

Thanks Ewan. I'm interested in the notion of 'Recognition Events'. Could you share an example from experience here to show what it could look like in practice?

16/1/2019 04:55:29 pm

Sorry for the delayed response Nick. The Recognition Events are very personal to each client. One I love is, "I walk in to the office on a Monday morning and there are letters from good people applying on spec." This business owner had a real challenge getting a good workforce. Another "We win a national industry award for customer care." Getting a great recognition event allows the client to picture themselves in the future then work backwards to find the few Tipping Points that created unstoppable momentum towards their Recognition event. Done correctly they often find the cost and effort to get there is very little.

16/1/2019 05:00:49 pm

Thanks Ewan. It sounds like 'recognition events' are quite like 'miracle questions' in solutions-focused work. Here's an example of an interesting briefing from a therapeutic context: https://ccsw2012.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/5/4/11542142/solution_focused_therapy_using_the_miracle_question.pdf

22/2/2019 11:30:13 am

I like this Nick. Very similar. Recognition Events do differ in a number of ways, the big one being they are linked to a cash value. What will they be worth when they happen. The number is used as a check not a target.

22/2/2019 11:31:00 am

Thanks Ewan. That's an interesting additional dimension that I hadn't considered before.

Benoît Couture

11/1/2019 10:24:37 pm

Part of the work I do as caregiver, is to reach for simplicity from complexity. Often, I find simplicity by finding one key word by which door(s) open to make my way out of complex issues. As one of my keys into the simplicity of giving care, I operate under Care's Health Governance:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2136643856665949&id=1478440209152987&__tn__=-R

11/1/2019 10:25:46 pm

Hi Benoît. That sounds intriguing! Do you have an example from experience you could share here?

12/1/2019 10:27:19 pm

Hi Nick, one that came up and that stayed with me is "to relate relevantly" which cuts through the chase of meaningful contacts. Another is "mutuality's proximity" which describes the solution to one of my biggest flaws.
I also go on inventing words when needed. The latest is here:
Introducing to the English world the word:"Outercourse"
https://www.facebook.com/benoitctr/posts/10219483478536244

12/1/2019 11:27:40 pm

Thanks Benoît.

22/2/2019 11:32:10 am

Hi again Nick, when I first wrote the word Outersourse, the red line showed up and the right click showed no option for spelling. I took that to mean that all I had to do was to click "Add to dictionary". I now know better, after checking further. My apologies for insulting your intelligence with my frenglish.

22/2/2019 11:32:57 am

Hi Benoît. You made me smile! :)

Alan Fowler

12/1/2019 11:28:21 pm

Very interesting post, Nick.
If you look at things from outcomes back to their strings of causes, you find they connect together over shared objects, transformations and outcomes. Viewing it that way makes it manageable, because you can select how many outcomes you work with and they always connect up in those three simple ways.
The connections, however, produce a vast network, so vast that it is incomprehensible. Crucially, this particular type of network is what mathematicians call a “small world network”. That means that things are connected far more closely than you would expect. You might have heard of “six degrees of separation” and that’s what it’s about.
As a result, when areas of the network become dynamically unstable, i.e. have more than one paradoxical alternative state, they can flip “catastrophically”. That is what makes things feel turbulent right now. Dynamically unstable systems (see “chaos theory”) can be radically changed with little effort. Stable systems are hard to change.
Over a lifetime I have found the world seems to cycle through dynamically unstable periods when, because of the “small world network” characteristic, the same general phenomenon starts to occur everywhere. Right now it’s Populism.

12/1/2019 11:30:17 pm

Thanks Alan. That's an interesting link with chaos theory and unstable systems.

Kathrin

14/1/2019 05:18:17 pm

Wenn sich die Welt bei einem Menschen unerwartet verändert, kann man manchmal nicht mehr tun, als für ihn DA zu sein. Zuhören, ruhig bleiben, Zeit haben, reden. Und Gott vertrauen. Leicht gesagt, wenn alles chaotisch oder schlimm ist. Aber Gott ist und bleibt, mal nah, mal fern, aber sicher bei uns und wird uns Phasen der Ruhe, des Optimismus und der Klarheit geben!

14/1/2019 09:34:46 pm

Hallo Kathrin. Ja, ich stimme zu. Manchmal ist Mitsein die einzige Sache ... und manchmal auch das Beste oder Wichtigste ... wir bieten einer Person oder Gruppe ein Angebot an. Dieses Gefühl, dass Gott inmitten von Veränderungen bei uns ist, kann auch den tiefsten Unterschied bewirken.

[Hi Kathrin. Yes, I agree. Sometimes 'being-with' is the only thing...and sometimes also the best or most important thing... we an offer to a person or group. That sense of God being with us in the midst of change can also make the most profound difference.]

David Cosgrove

14/1/2019 09:36:27 pm

The thing that all visionary leaders have in common, is they all have a vision. Having a clear idea of the future you are moving towards that is clear, concise and believable can be a rallying point that a leader can point towards.
In my experience, people can withstand huge upheaval IF they understand why it is necessary and what is in it for them to tolerate it.

14/1/2019 09:40:27 pm

Hi David. That reminds me of John Kotter's idea of vision as 'convincing to the mind and compelling to the heart.' Alongside rationale and benefits, some people and groups are motivated and sustained by the belief that leaders care about them and stand with them.

Dave Cosgrove

16/1/2019 12:37:35 pm

Any form of management is about getting results through the efforts of your people. Leaders showing they care should be the minimum entry requirement for their people to do that.
It doesn't excuse leaders making difficult choices, but knowing where you are going and that you are being led by somebody who cares you get there should make those uncertainties easier to manage.

16/1/2019 12:44:32 pm

Hi Dave. Yes - and yet how many managers appear to be motivated by task achievement per se rather than by motivating, supporting and developing the people around them? I particularly like Rosabeth Moss-Kanter's work in this area, e.g. http://www.nick-wright.com/blog/change-leadership-principles

Nancy Avila

2/2/2019 08:33:36 pm

Patience and support are the two primary factors that leaders may use to enable his or her people to ride the complex waves. The natural confidence stem from those two key factors bolsters the people's wills to get through obstacles and or challenges.

2/2/2019 08:38:11 pm

Hi Nancy. Yes, patience and support can be very important. I find John Heron's idea of 'support' useful in his book, 'Helping the Client'. He describes different types of supportive intervention that can be used with different clients, or the same clients in different situations: prescriptive; informative; confronting; cathartic; catalytic.

3/2/2019 04:52:53 pm

Two factors to consider: the circumstance and the people who are involved. The rest is rested in the leader's wisdom to recognize which and what type of support to apply. Thank you for your recommendation. Sounds like it is a must to read book :)

3/2/2019 04:54:47 pm

Hi Nancy. Yes, I often ask myself: 'What would this person (or team, or group, or organisation) experience as facilitative in this situation at this time?' John Heron's work is worth a glance, although I found the book quite dry to read!

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