Gaian Newsletter Volume 6.10

September 1, 2009

Living through Transformation

To those of you who are living through transformations, and
especially those who are leading them, here are some thoughts directly to
you.  Real transformation means
that we change the rules of how we engage, how we make decisions, and how we do
business.  Transformation means
seeing the world through a different set of lenses and using a different set of
responses than we have used before. 
It is a culture change. 
Anyone who has spent immersion time in another culture knows the feeling
of uncertainty associated with not really understanding all of the unspoken
rules and customs that others are exhibiting naturally.  I can remember the feelings of outright
desperation just in trying to do the most basic tasks of life, like get food, or
return safely to my room.  I also
remember the feeling of stepping back into my own culture, and how I suddenly
felt like I entered warp speed of being able to get things done, as I deeply
understood how my culture worked. 
It was like a huge sigh of relief. 
Times like that make it easy to see the transformation at play.


However, leading a organizational transformation is the
opposite side of that scenario.  It
requires that you change the rules of culture in place, within the same
environment where they were learned and perfected, and across all of the
people.  That is a very different
story.  The leader of
transformation is now the odd one out, even though they are very successful and
powerful in their position.  It can
be lonely and frustration at times.

 


Creating a new culture is an experiment in which you only
have an idea of what your desired state is like.  Because of this, there is a lot of uncertainty in how people
actually behave.  You see, culture
is a shared social construct.  It
is a complicated set of interactions that exist in the subconscious mind of
each of us.  In fact, it is often
so deeply buried that people don’t even know they are using it.  Because of that, the only way that we
can understand culture is to literally pull it up and work with it though
dialogues.  These can be in person
(best) or virtual, as long as people actually engage the underlying reasons
that drive their behaviors.




So here are some things to remember that may make it easier.

• 
  
  Even the people who lead a transformation only
  have a partial idea of what the end result will look like.  This can be a real issue for some, as
  many people want certainty and definitive answers. 
• 
  
  In order to make the change fully, you have to disrupt
  the old patterns of thinking.  In
  learning theory, these are called “deconstructive events”.  The brain is amazingly efficient, and
  will continue to deliver the old culture until it is rewired to the new. 
• 
  
  The hardest group to work with in transformation
  (and often the biggest) are those who really support the notion, believe they
  are working in alignment, and all the while do not get what the change really
  means.  They often look at it and
  say “Right!  Great!  Love it!  Been doing it for years!  We’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing!” 
• 
  
  Because of these issues, here are some things you can do to
  live through this.
• 
  
  Stay open and curious about how the desired
  state will look.
• 
  
  Spend time in conversation with people who are
  really open to the ideas of the change and are willing to explore and offer
  different perspectives.  These
  people are often outside of the system you are trying to change.
• 
  
  Be simple and sparing in defining new behaviors
  and metrics for you transformation.  
  Think of them as experiments that help to define the new system.  They will become more clear as the
  change emerges.
• 
  
  Take it one day at a time and trust the process
  of collective learning.

So, take some time, take some notes, and change your life!

Cheers,

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