Over the past couple of postings I've been sharing my thoughts about the Infusion event hosted by Capital Health. Here I'd like to share some insights about the last half-day, where we were supposed to be going up the second side of the U to realize a new model/prototype for leadership. I say supposed to, because I think, in some ways, that we were just getting to presencing as we left.
Late in the morning of the last day, we were asked to surface themes that had emerged and were called to crystallize a prototype of what it would look like if those themes came into fruition. There were some good ideas there. Some pushed the boundaries, some didn't, but as we discussed them, I felt an increasing discomfort arising among the participants. Some people spoke of not pushing the boundaries enough. Some said we'd done enough reflecting and it was time to act and do something. it was really quite interesting.
What it felt like to me was that we had been in a fairly polite area, and as this conversation evolved, we started dancing to the edge, towards where it was really uncomfortable. We didn't cross over into it - nobody seemed to want to really push us over, but we danced on the edge.
A few of the comments as we went around connected some dots for me. One person at the program had floated between groups, gathering ideas and coalesced them into her own concept. We had craft supplies there to model our prototypes, and she took a blob of play-doh clay and started sticking straws into it with notes on them about what would be required of a prototype. The clay was the foundation - the beliefs, the values that we came from, and the 'pieces' of the initiative on the straws emerged from and were supported by that foundation.
Interestingly, she found that her foundation didn't hold up the straws, so she had to add more clay and build up the foundation, a beautiful metaphor, I think for what happens in so many organizations. We get so busy doing things and initiatives, and we don't have the time to go into the foundation - the 'messy' stuff: feelings, beliefs and values. Then we wonder why doing the 'things' doesn't work.
In fact, one person spoke up and said that the organization had the systems and processes the sculptor spoke of, and they weren't doing the job. And that to me, said it all. People were too involved in the doing the things and systems, and not enough time had been invested into building the foundation.
So what is this foundation? It's a number of things. It's honoring who people are and where they're at. It's understanding and working to live within the values. It's understanding what beliefs get in the way and what beliefs make it happen. It's understanding and knowing your own beliefs, values and sense of purpose, which I'm exploring further in this post in my blog on personal leadership. It's the 'messy' stuff of human beings which takes time to do and which requires us to show up as human beings, not just as our roles, and this is something that is not in many models of leadership, and is very challenging for people to do period.
One of the participants at the Infusion event spoke of how we need to honour where people are at - their pain, their anxiety, their perspective. This, to me, is the start of that foundation. Then we have to support people in connecting to their own personal leadership, because most people don't really know what's important to them and what motivates them - in our society we don't usually make time to do that. We're too busy being human doings to be human beings.
Once individuals (especially leaders) have greater clarity on their personal leadership, then you can really discuss what are the organizational beliefs and values that you want to live. What does it look like? What does it mean? Who's living them? Who's not?
That's the foundation. That's the 'messy' stuff. That's what we don't invest the time to do.
The challenge is that we still have to do our day-to-day doing as we're remembering how to be human beings. But I think that challenge is far less than our fear of going into the 'messy' stuff. That's just a cop-out.
I really have to give kudos to the design/hosting team for the Infusion event. That was a challenging job, holding that space with all those powerful minds, hearts and opinions, and you did it wonderfully. From the logistics to the connection between the hosing team to the crafting of the questions and process, and the actual hosting of the event, my hats off to you.
My greatest kudos go to you for not trying to wrap things up in a neat package at the end. It wasn't neat - it was still messy, and that's a good thing. I disagree with the people (interestingly all male) who spoke up and said we'd had too much female energy and it was time to have some balls and act. That's jumpint the U. That's the fear of going into the messy stuff. I think this process is just getting into presencing, to the heart of the issue - we've barely started - and to allow it to realize its true potential, you have to give it its time. Congratulations on letting it be messy. That takes courage.