Leading Dynamic Change

If you believe, as I do, that leadership is a collection of behaviouyrs linked to a given combination of spiritual archetypes, than everyone can display leadership behaviours, but only a few will have what it takes to get others to follow them in large numbers. When these factors combine in a fertile situation things do change - and fast. Understanding the conetext and identifying he potential for change is a core skill for Real Change Leaders.

"We all have strong values about doing work that has
meaning (inside-out), being of real service to our
customers (outside-in), treating other people well (bottom-up)
and maintaining intergrity in the way work gets
done (top-down)." Peter Block 'The Empowered Manager'

To achieve real change therefore, you need to learn how to go with the forces that are hidden in the complex connections that make each situation unique in time and space. If we can free ourselves of the baggage that constrains our thinking, then anything is possible. Just do it and you will find out.

The power of now
The challenge of real change is finding the will to tackle it now, as well as the energy and information needed to address it in different ways. It's about removing your fear of ambiguity and the anxieties caused by uncertainty. There are no guarantees that the changes will lead to an improvement of course, but you can make change happen by thinking through what it is that needs to be done now. Good project management relies on these skills.

The best leaders understand dynamic change
Don't take my word for it. Sir John Harvey-Jones, 'Manager of the Millenium' was adamant in a recent article that ...

"successful change in business is about getting the balance
right. You have to get your troops together (bottom-up energy) and
face them in the right direction (top-down energy). You must grab
their imagination (inside-out energy) to ensure that your customers
get what they want (outside-in energy)".

It appears that when the energy for change is coming from all four directions is is able to secure real change. That's why Real Change Leaders need to understand the dynamics of change.

Be a paradox buster
Paradox it seems is an integral part of dynamic change. New leaders know how to design and plan for change, while at the same time allowing uncertainty and learning to unfold naturally. They see threats as opportunities, value individual contributions as well as group achievements, are both externally responsive and internally coherent, and know how to incorporate centralisation and decentralisation as natural forces for change.

Paradoxes serve our need for understanding becaue they affirm that both sides can be right and true at the same time. They are both mutually exclusive and intimately linked. The most profound of these tensions exist beteen individual and collective interests. You can't have organisational learning without individual learning, both are needed to enrich complex learning processes. Both contribute to a sense of wholeness and greater effectiveness. More about this can be found in Change Learning.

Top-down driven change initiatives fail when they do not have enough respect for personal visions as a source of energy for change (you can't mandate what matters). Politicians are impatient for change and therefore overcontrol the change processes. Control from the top is an illusion anyway as Peter Senge explains...

"While traditional organisations require management systems
to control people's behaviour, learning organisations invest in
improving the quality of thinking, the capacity for reflection and
team learning and the ability to develop shared visions and shared understandings of complex issues. They are then able to establish
self-managed local control of themselves."
Peter Senge 'The Fifth Discipline'

Challenging received wisdom
In his book RELAX it's only uncertainty, Philip Hodgson and Randall White, explore the issues that living with ambiguity presents us with. For example, all of us have been led to believe that we can:

• predict the consequences of our actions;
• control our choices;
• measure anything of importance;
• improve performance by setting targets; and
• use words that mean the same to everyone.

These are illusions created by the mind. Leading real change is helped by challenging received wisdom, understanding the dynamics in each situation and dealing with the dilemmas they generate. The leader must have a positive attitude to all that is uncertain in order to retain the positive energy needed to encourage others to search for new possibilities.

Leadership is everyone's concern and responsibility
Leaders in the past were able to hide behind the illusion of predictable change, but no longer. The uncertainties that leaders face today are clear for everyone to see. Leadership is no longer the preserve of the few, it is now real enough to be everyone's concern and responsibility, whether they have a formal leadership position or not. Smart leaders realise they need followers and are good at reading patterns of behaviour and intensity of feeling.

Action and Inquiry
Of course, change can be motivated by an inspiring vision, but it is sustained through regular, meaningful conversation. It's about what you choose to focus on and what your organisation expects of you. For example, I use dynamic inquiry to help clients balance their emotional and spiritual needs with the rational and strategic change required by their organisation's.

It's about what you do now to create a future that you and others want to happen.

What I have learned is that change is relaxed and effortless for those individuals, teams and organisations with an appreciation of uncertainty and an understanding of how the dynamics of change interact.

In this website I share my insights, experiences and an understanding of change as it happens in different contexts. It also provides some alternative perspectives and challenging insights to help you lead real change initiatives.

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