“Thinking is the place where intelligent actions begin,” writes Margaret Wheatley. “We pause long enough to look more carefully at a situation, to see more of its character, to think about why it’s happening, to notice how it’s affecting us and others.”
As Kevin Cashman reminds us in his book, The Pause Principle: Step Back to Lead Forward (Berrett-Koehler, 2012), “All too often, we allow ourselves to be carried away by our busy-ness. We are too hyperactive, too reactive to even notice the hidden value-creating dynamics waiting just under the surface within us and around us. Tethered to our smartphones, we are too caught up and distracted to take the time necessary to sort through complexity or to locate submerged purpose. In our urgent rush to get ‘there,’ we are going everywhere but being nowhere. Far too busy managing with transitive speed, we rarely step back to lead with transformative significance.” When I pause, think deeply, and reflect on all that is happening in our world, and all that people are sharing with me, some interesting trends surface.
First, we are witnessing on-going periods of rapid intensification with little to no level of adequate monitoring or preparation for the impact of rapid intensification. This term, rapid intensification, is used to describe how hurricanes develop in a short period of time, e.g. the weather was fine and then it changed quickly overnight, which resulted in the development of a hurricane. Recognizing this pattern, weather scientists monitor for the conditions that will result in rapid intensification, and, if they see it starting to happen, they then make specific recommendations as to safety, etc. before a full blown hurricane happens.
Given current events taking place in a wide diversity of organizations, and in the broader world, the conditions for rapid intensification are surfacing. Therefore, leaders need to monitor these conditions quite closely. Then, if they do surface, they need to have a plan in place for how to respond in order to handle the arrival of a metaphorical hurricane.
Second, as I noted last week in this blog, we are witnessing a rising tide of exhausted engagement with people only staying in their jobs for the potential bonus they may receive in the near future. This, in conjunction with a decline in the effectiveness of their personal coping strategies, makes work, which, at one point, was meaningful and interesting, just a daily worthless marathon to be endured.
This level of exhaustion is compounded by a decline in teams becoming better and stronger at what they do on a daily basis. Instead, many teams are de-evolving into dysfunctional teams, or single leader work groups, who are struggling to keep up with the complex technical problems and adaptive challenges that are taking place operationally each day. And team members know that their team is not doing well. Furthermore, these same team players believe they are all experiencing the Red Queen Principle, namely they are running faster and faster to just stay in the same place.
Third, we are witnessing the impact of a continued decline in effective coaching, especially in the area of creating safe spaces to share, reflect, and think through difficult issues and problems. Most people experience coaching as a time where the leader as coach says “Tell me your problems so I can fix them.” This typically results is a blame and shame form of coaching that feels neither safe or productive.
On the other hand, experienced leaders, who coach well, focus on helping their direct reports learn new skills and/or gain new insights about how to manage or lead through the difficult problems they encounter. The goal of this way of coaching is to build trust in the relationship, and capacity within the skill set and mind set of the individual they are coaching. But the foundation of exceptional coaching begins with the creation of safe spaces so all involved can share, reflect, and think through difficult issues and problems.
Fourth, we are are witnessing an epidemic of strategic blindness, namely a total lack of understanding that the operational and strategic choices being made today are creating the future, and that the problems today reflect poor choices and solutions made in the past. I think this problem is happening now because more and more people do not have an in-depth understanding of the history of the company, and in particular the past strategic choices that were made.
Therefore, I think new employee orientation should include a half day or full day workshop, depending on the age of the company, on the history of the company, starting with the founding straight through to present day operations. In particular, I would focus on explaining the choices made within the last three to four strategic plans, and how these past choices created current systems, structure, and culture within the company. Then, all involved will grasp that the choices we are making today will create the future five to seven years from now. Understanding and perspective are mission critical to making wise choices at this time period.
Given the emergence of these four trends, I am reminded of a line that Shakespeare wrote in his play called Hamlet: “We know what we are, but not what we may be.” Recognizing the short and long term impact and precedence these trends are having and will have, I believe we need to turn to the writings of Margaret Wheatley where she advocates for “seeking coherence at the core,” namely the creation of a strong identity within a person or group based on a shared purpose, especially within the context of a community at work and at home.
On the surface, the idea of coherence at the core seems very abstract. Yet, Martine Haas and Mark Mortensen in their article called “The Secrets of Great Teamwork” (Harvard Business Review, June 2016) do not see this concept as abstract. Using teamwork as a foundation for building a shared identity and purpose, they write: “Today’s teams are different from the teams of the past: They’re far more diverse, dispersed, digital, and dynamic (with frequent changes in membership).” Then, they explain that the foundation for success involves four different elements. First, there needs to be a compelling direction, i.e. “People have to care about achieving a goal.” Second, there needs to be a strong structure, i.e. “Every individual doesn’t have to possess superlative technical and social skills, but the team overall needs a healthy dose of both.” Third, there needs to be a supportive context, i.e. the right resources, information, and training. Finally, there needs to be a shared mindset. They explain this last one in the following manner: “Distance and diversity, as well as digital communication and changing membership, make them [teams] especially prone to the problems of ‘us versus them’ thinking and incomplete information…. The solution to both is developing a shared mindset among team members - something team leaders can do by fostering a common identity and common understanding.” And given current events and challenges, the above four elements related to teamwork are vital to success, especially the fourth element. They also are a strong foundation for how to move forward given the aforementioned trends.
Right now, we need to stay alert to what is happening in the world around us, both near and far, and then adapt as needed. At the same time, we need to make sure that every response and adaptation we choose strengthens the teams and community within which we live. All of this will require discipline, dedication, and a healthy sense of community at work and at home. For this is where intelligent action begins.
© Geery Howe 2026
No comments:
Post a Comment