February 2012
Shift Happens
When we stop and think about it, we recognize that everywhere we turn we are amidst complex systems. These systems, such as corporations, communities, families, Girl Scout troops, and alumni associations, have characteristics that influence the whole, and whose parts are connected and interdependent.
Since our systems are open, they are subject to outside influences such as time, space, market crises, global political events, and Mother Nature. As such, the system and those who are part of it – us! – must in our own individual and collective ways respond to our environments.
To say the whole is greater than the sum of its parts is only the beginning of understanding. For example, a new work group comes together on a special project. There are introductions, shaking hands, and getting-to-know-you conversations. These are soon replaced with agendas, schedules and brainstorms. Order evolves, as does a plan, assignments, and a project timeline. Through organization of processes and procedures – however that happens – tasks are accomplished, deadlines are met, deliverables are completed, and a new product is launched.
Successful outcomes all around and yet beyond the individual and the whole is the greater whole: interdependencies are identified and influenced; alliances are developed; bonds are created; relationships are recognized and appreciated; new patterns are formed. From all of this motion and commotion, something fresh and sound, vibrant and important, has emerged.
Now look at your own environment (or system). Co-workers, colleagues, and friends behave in certain ways – some predictable, some not – and that behavior creates patterns. Those patterns, taken as a whole, then create the culture. What happens, of course, is that the culture then reinforces the behaviors, supports the patterns, and so on.
Lo and behold! Before you know it, everyone in the office is hugging!
It sounds like it may be time to shift the pattern. Hugging, like anything else becomes part of the culture – a pattern that has been reinforced – and folks may simply not realize that it isn't everyone’s cup of tea.
In order to change things, do something different and see what happens. A new behavior can create a new pattern, which can shift the culture. Yes, it is always tricky going against the norm in the workplace, but I think it is well worth making preferences known in an appropriate and direct way, and creating change for the better.
Here’s how it works:
At my last company it was the end of the year and I was the new boss. An employee came into my office to wish me happy holidays and give me a big, cheerful hug. In a friendly voice I said simply that I was not a hugger and how about a warm and hardy handshake. That did the trick for us both without anyone taking offense, being embarrassed or having to do something uncomfortable. Aside from all the legal and social implications of hugging in the workplace (particularly involving the boss), I really am not a hugger. Word spread quickly and whenever the subject came up I was the first one to laugh. Most importantly, there was no more hugging. Shift in behavior, shift in pattern, shift in culture.
When we stand in this new and different space, with a broader point of view, we can begin to grasp what’s in front of us. Our means are Adaptive Action: observing, making meaning of what we see, and then acting. We can understand the environment and those around us; guide the behavior of others; and recognize what is important.
We can influence and create patterns that are productive and sustainable for us all.
* * * * *
Did you know that more women die of heart disease than all forms of cancer combined?
February is American Heart Month. Help make ending heart disease a reality.
Do it for yourself, do it for someone you love.
| 
