Even when we choose not to contribute, we are NOT not contributing. Whole Systems Thinking teaches us that simply by observing a ‘system’ we change it. As humans we are inherently creative beings. From the moment that the sperm meets egg we being to alter things – before consciousness we have an impact and create new ways of thinking and being. Any parent or grandparent knows how true this is!
A mentor of mine reminded me of this when he said,
“You can have more impact with 1 hour of presence than a year of explaining.”
The business people in the above picture may be incredibly creative, have great wisdom and have much to offer, but their presence is creating….fill in the blanks……
As a leader, I have realised that my greatest contribution, is neither when I withdraw, nor when I shine brighter than the rest, but rather when my presence makes it possible for the genius of all to surface. I am always joyfully surprised by the superiority of what the communal consciousness creates, when I have the discipline to notice how my presence is affecting others’ permission to co-create rather than seeking input from the ‘gifted few’.
I am not talking about a lowest common denominator. Rather, a richer form of creating and building that invites. That improves because it is refined through the creativity brought by those with completely different gifting to me.
This has required that I bring my contribution in a way that gives permission for all others to bring theirs.
Here is a short video clip of someone else who has discovered the extraordinary impact of seeing and welcoming the giftedness of all.
DJ De Pree noticed with new eyes and that shifted forever how he showed up as a leader. The same is true for me.
I invite you, over the next couple of weeks, to notice how the way you see others invites or shuts down their creative contribution. We would love to hear your stories and/or thoughts about this. Use the comment box below to join the conversation.
In our collective years of corporate life we, the creators of this material, have had the privilege of meeting and befriending amazing, talented people in a broad variety of leadership circumstances. In our consulting careers we continue to have the joy of meeting and working with high functioning individuals and teams. Skilled leaders with vision, commitment and business acumen. We have also stumbled onto an awareness of 2 critical areas that most of even these leaders struggle with. Two areas that hold them back from bringing their full value to their work.
Dealing with Ambiguity
The difficulty in making decisions in ambiguity. Where a need for control or a need to know and get things exactly right hinders making an “optimal range” decision. We believe it is possible to equip leaders to make sound decisions even in ambiguity.
Strategic Organizational Agility
“Organizations can be complex mazes with many turns, dead ends, quick routes and choices. In most organizations, the best path to get somewhere is almost never a straight line. There is a formal organization – the one on the organization chart – where the path may look straight, and then there is the informal organization where all paths are zigzagged. Since organizations are staffed with people, they become all the more complex. There are gatekeepers, expediters, stoppers, resisters, guides, Good Samaritans and influencers. All these types [and more] live in the organizational maze. The key to being successful in maneuvering through complex organizations is to find your way through the maze to your goal in the least amount of time while making the least noise [or leaving the least wake]. The best way to do that is to accept the complexity of organizations rather than fighting it and learn to be a maze-bright person (emphasis added).” FYI For Your Improvement, Lombardo & Eichinger, 236
Hidden forces, such as gravity, govern all of nature. People, organizations and societies are also governed by inescapable forces. These forces are at the root of much of the complexity in organizations. Environments where people and ideas thrive, are structured in congruence with these forces. Environments with a stifling effect, have structures and mindsets incongruent with these natural forces.
Our Vision:
Through this process participants will:
- Understand their organization as a living organism
- Breathe life into their organization so that it lives out its’ full potential as a living organisms.
- Lead from an understanding that living organisms initiate rather than just support; go beyond simply maintaining to creating. They see and build beyond what is.
This is a process full of doors to other world views. It is a process that provokes thought rather than provides answers. It demands that you work out the answers for yourself rather than receive them predigested.
We believe that finding the spaciousness within complexity necessitates a stepping back into a quiet ‘space’ that observes the ‘societal laws of human nature’ that underpin and are party to creating that complexity.
The blog invites you to join us in this process of discovery. A process of rethinking, observing, questioning and integrating an expanded way of dealing with complexity. An expansion that, paradoxically, creates a spaciousness within complexity. To do this we will be introducing you to a theory – the Theory of Spacious Complexity. A theory and process that invites you to suppose things were different to what you’ve understood them to be. To look beyond the complexity… to pause and notice the forces at play. Forces. Societal forces akin to the force of gravity and other the forces of nature. To discover and experiment with the impact of working with the forces we suppose be truly hardwired into the world. We will be introducing these forces in the next session and the remainder of our time will be expanding our understanding of the forces and why and how it is of real, practical importance for us to see and work with the forces.
We are suggesting a theory here and will be stating it as truth… know that it is the best truth based on what we see – be part of helping us make it more robust… or bust it open. Be part of the test – expand our visibility.
All theories are flawed. No plan… or theory… survives its collision with reality – it is our best guess based on what is visible to us at that point.
We welcome you as part of the testing community!
If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist.
Brené Brown is a researcher who believed this to be true. In our organisations we have many who hold to this maxim. Yet, on another level, we know that there are things – messy, intangible things – that can’t be measured…at least not quantitatively.
Brené Brown started her research looking for a way to measure the intangible and ended up with some surprising insights that are not only useful to life, but also to organisational life.
Watch this video and let me know what your thoughts are.
Below are a few questions to stimulate your thinking:
As a leader, be vulnerable with yourself and think honestly about the following:
How worthy am I of love and respect?
Am I enough?
How true does the following statement appear to me “Vulnerability is the birthplace of strength and creativity – Denying vulnerability is to deny creativity”?
What would change in how I manage/lead my team if I see us as ‘enough’?
Bigger than us
How much thought do you give to the footprint you leave? In your family? Circle of friends? Business or place of work? The community? What about the footprint we leave as an organisation or a country?
Ease of global travel and trade, whether actual travel by car or plane or virtual (via the internet), means that we leave our footprint in places we may not even think about. If the world is becoming a virtual village then what we see as our community must include all the places we connect with. Including connections that feel more removed like those through the internet and the places we trade with (directly or indirectly).
With nearly half the world’s population living on less that $2.50per day , something’s not right.
High poverty levels in one sector of society, spell disaster for the whole country. With country boundaries blurring (eg the bit-coin) none of us can escape the impact of poverty in other parts of the globe. It is no longer something that only affects the developing world. The developing world is part of our world and what happens their will impact all of us, increasingly over time.
% of population living on less than $2 per day.
Your Footprint IS bigger than you
15% of all our fees goes directly towards uplifting those in the poorest countries in our global village. Just in this last year we spent over $16,000 towards economic empowerment.
This means that, through the simple act of choosing us as a service provider, all our clients have helped uplift those in the poorest sectors of our global market.
Here’s how:
Freedom through Business Development
Our aim is to end economic oppression, one family at a time, by giving families the means with which to participate in capitalist economies. As business leaders, we understand the advantage we have is largely due to an accident of our birth and desire to create opportunity for potential business leaders born to less fortunate circumstances. To this end over $7,000 of the $16,000 has gone directly as loans to individuals to aid them in starting or expanding their businesses. ($5,100 to Hope International and $2,066 in loans through Kiva.org)
Since Oct 2014 (when we started our CSR program) we have lent $4,557 through Kiva and we keep re-lending it as it is paid back. It has now financed $13,825 of loans to 64 small businesses in 18 countries. If you’d like to contribute directly to it, please join our lending team or choose someone to lend to on your own.
Freedom through Education
South Africa has some of the worlds best schools, yet the majority of its schools are under staffed and under resourced.
In 2013 we began supporting the leadership development of school principals in disadvantaged schools in South Africa. We are partnering with an amazing organisation Partners for Possibility (PfP) who are equipping the school principals to turn the schools around. They partner with a business leader who mentors them and develop skills to engage their staff, the parents and the local business community.
They are taught leadership, community engagement, strategy and so much more. Some of their schools are seeing their pass rate go up from 30% to over 80%. I have seen their work first hand and am seriously impressed. It costs $6,000 to sponsor a school and in 2013, we set aside $8,900 of our CSR towards it.
There is a direct correlation between quality education and ability to partake in a capitalist economy. We see this as investing in the next generation’s ability to participate in the economy.
Learn more about how our mission and values drive us
Thank-you
A big thank-you to all our clients who have contributed, through our fees and, perhaps without realizing it, directly to improving the quality of life of hundreds of people around the globe. Not through once-off hand-outs, but by helping us fund their access to the tools for self-improvement. Thank-you for helping us leave a positive footprint.
Something Fun
Below is a very entertaining and interesting video on how the world has moved in 200 years. I would be very interested in what thoughts it provokes in you. Please use the comment field to leave your thoughts.
Interesting Facts
- Hope International is “home grown in BC” and was recommended to me by a friend who works in a similar field in South Africa.
- 100% of money loaned through Kiva.org is used to fund the loan. They rely on donations and volunteers around the globe to keep running.
- PfP started 4 years ago with one school and now has over 150 schools with more on the waiting list – driven mostly by the impact both business and principles are seeing.
I found this TED TALK on The Danger of a Single Story very thought provoking.
I wonder what single stories we live with that give us myopic vision in our lives and our organisations?