A couple of years ago, I read a book by David Attenborough called A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and A Vision for the Future (Grand Central Publishing, 2020). In it, he describes something called Shifting Baseline Syndrome, which was discovered decades ago in the fisheries industry. As he points out, knowledge is lost over time about the state of the natural world, because people don’t perceive subtle changes that are actually taking place within it. Furthermore, this loss of knowledge and perspective is perpetuated when each new generation perceives the environmental conditions in which they grew up as normal. This, in part, explains why people are currently accepting the decline of environmental conditions.
When we translate this idea into the business world, we come to recognize that each new generation defines normal by what they are experiencing right now. Furthermore, because of their current work experiences, they do not know, or grasp what normal was for previous generations. It also explains why people’s standards for acceptable work conditions, i.e. an incremental lowering of standards or redefining of expectations about work standards, are steadily declining or changing over time. In sum, the outcome of this shifting baseline is that each new generation, lacking the knowledge about the history of previous conditions within which people worked, do not grasp the dramatic impacts it has on the current social geography, i.e. the way individuals and groups interact with each other at work.
Next, when people do not understand the strategic history of a company and do not recognize that past markets conditions influenced past strategic choices, then they do not comprehend how the past is still impacting the current strategy and the current social geography within the company. Nor, for that matter, will they understand how current systems and networks are functioning, or not functioning due to the impact of these past choices.
Having coached leaders for decades, I often remember the past and see how the past is impacting the current situations that certain leaders are struggling with at this time period. As a former history teacher, I routinely want to quote Winston Churchill from his 1948 speech to the British House of Commons: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” In basic terms, Churchill is noting that we are likely to repeat the mistakes of the past if we do not learn from history and the experiences of others.
Now, at it’s most basic level, history is the study of events that happened in the past. But, I think we need to comprehend something that John Paul Lederach noted in his book, The Moral Imagination: The Art And Soul Of Building Peace (Oxford University Press, 2005), namely that there are different levels of history. First, there is remembered history, which are the stories we learned from others. Second, there is lived history, which are the past experiences we personally lived through during any given time period. Next, there is shared history, which are the experiences we personally lived through with others in the organization and in the world around us. Finally, there is current history, which are the experiences that are happening right now which will quickly become history. All four of these histories can create the narrative we tell ourselves and others about what is happening right now, and the why is it happening. All four of these histories shape our social geography and the choices we are making each and every day.
Given current events, most leaders want to answer the why question when it comes to choices being made by them and the company. They also want to talk about mission and purpose rather than talk about history and past choices. However, very few leaders are good at answering the why question, because they do not understand the history that created current events, and they do not understand the current social geography that was created by it.
Therefore, many leaders skip the why question and instead focus on the message: “Let’s just get things done!” They don’t realize that execution reflects the convergence of experience, which is the sum of history, and social geography. Furthermore, these same leaders do not want to invest the resources or energy into creating a time and space to explore and discuss history. They also do not comprehend that this could dramatically move the social geography within the company. In short, they do not grasp that commitment, not authority, actually produces results, and that commitment happens over time, and reflects in-depth sharing and dialogue. As Margaret Wheatley remind us, “… most social change initiates or is shaped by a single traceable conversation.” Making time for this depth of conversation can change history and change relationships, but it also can dramatically impact our current ability to execute strategy.
As Winston Churchill shared, “To each, there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.” Now is that special moment where we have a chance to do a very special thing. What a tragedy it will be if we miss this opportunity to discuss history and social geography. Because by doing so, we could create clarity and commitment. Then, we could rise to the challenges before us, and this could be our finest hour.
© Geery Howe 2025
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