2-3-4 Friday
‘Seeking to spark the most potential within you per word of any online newsletter’
1 thought
Remember the time when you entered a job, and really wanted to change something?
But somehow, you felt stuck. As if no matter what you did, no one listened. There was resistance. And worse still, you got hurt.
Picture this experience.
30 youths, between the age of 26 to 35, sit, leaning in, enthralled, and listening to Debra and Yu Ching, two facilitators from And, an organisational development (OD) consultancy.
It’s strange where this is being held out.
It’s a fancy home, with a gorgeous swimming pool by the side, and antiques that look the price of a yearly salary.
Yet whilst this is a stranger’s home, there’s a strange sense of family within it.
Debra shares how she came to And, after growing up in a family squashed between an older and younger brother, both of whom have autism.
Family was a scarcity.
Ah, that’s a strange word, isn’t it? To describe family as ‘scarcity’.
As you learn OD, you will realise that one of the big things, even before learning how systems change, is about having the language, and then being able to name what’s happening.
- Building the language.
- Naming the situation.
As
you read this, you might be interested in changing certain things. Your family, your organisation, your self, perhaps.
What we often don’t realise is that each and every one of this, is a system, and until we are able to be aware of what’s happening, we might not be able to change things positively.
Language doesn’t only
shape meaning, it actually shapes systems and organisations.
Simple example.
One of the biggest things I had to get used to when I moved to the U.K. to study was calling the professor by his first name. No “Professor X”, but just X.
That would
have been rude in Singapore. But in the U.K., I saw how this immediately narrowed the hierarchy, and made the system (seem) a lot more palatable to question.
1 talk
We don’t just do what we want or wish to,
we do what we are used to.
1 tip
Short of going for the course, what else can we actually do?
I think it might be useful to be aware of how we negotiate the systems we are a part of.
What tends to be the recurring pattern through
which we enter a new environment?
One simple way is to observe the first things you look out for when you enter a new environment (hat tip to Debra for pointing this out).
It’s based on Kurt Lewin’s field theory.
- Resource - you try to look for where the
coffee or food table is (me too!)
- Spatial - you look for the boundaries (for example you wonder what you can or cannot discuss or do)
- Relational - you look for a familiar face in the crowd
- Power - you look at who the facilitators and speakers are (and try to suss them
out)
When we know our natural inclinations when we enter certain environments, we know how we can begin to respond differently.
That’s when change happens.
P.S. If you’d like to read more about how to lead from the bottom - this article I wrote might help.
John
Live Young, Live Well - Work Your Love
Think others might benefit? I’m counting on you. Forward this on.