"It is one of the great ironies of our age that we created organizations to constrain our problematic human natures, and now the only thing that can save these organizations is a full appreciation of the expansive capacity of us humans." (21)
"Life seeks organization, but it uses messes to get there. Organization is a process, not a structure." (27)
"...no organization functions on the plannned contributions of its members. Every organization relies on its employees going beyond the rules and roles, figuring out what needs to be done, solving unexpected problems as they appear." (29)
"Leaders...help us understand ourselves differently by the way they act. They trust our humannness; they welcome surprises...; they are curious about of differences; they delight in our inventiveness; they nurture us; they connect us." (30)
"I want traditional business/economic logic to stop being the only story; I want business/economic imperatives to stop moving us away from the deeper realities we know." (30)
"Organizations-as-machines is a seventeenth century notion, from a time when philosophers began to describe the universe as a great clock." (32)
"It is time to change the way we think about organizations. Organizations are living systems. All living systems have the capacity to self-organize, to sustain themselves and move toward greater complexity and order as needed." (33)
"Social insects, bird flocks, schools of fish, human traffic jams, all exhibit well-synchronized, highly organize behaviors. Yet these sophisticated movements are not directed by any leader. Instead, a few rules focused at the local level lead to coordinated responses. Computer simulations that mimic flocking, swarming, or schooling behaviors program in only two or three rules for individuals to follow. There is never a rule about a leader or direction." (35)
"All organizing efforts begin with an intent, a belief that something more is possible now that the group is together. Organizing occurs around an identity..." (37)
"Because identity is the sense-making capacity of the organization, every organizing effort--whether it be the start-up of a team, a community project, or a nation--needs to begin by exploring and clarifying the intentions and desires of its members. Why are we doing this? What's possible now that we've agreed to try this together? How does the purpose of this effort connect to my personal sense of purpose and to the purposes of the large system?" (38)
"We have forgotten what we're capable of and let our worst natures rise to the surface. I believe we got into this sorry state partly because, for too long, we've been treating people as machines." (56)
"it is time to become passionate about what's best in us and to create organizations that welcome in our creativity, and compassion. We do this by using processes that bring us together to talk to one another, listen to one another's stories, reflect together on what we're learning as we do our world. We do this by developing relationships of trust, where we do what we say, where we speak truthfully, where we refuse to act from petty self-interest." (56-57)
"I've heard many military commanders state that 'If you have to order a soldier to do something, then you've failed as a leader.'" (64)
"For most organizations, meaningful change is at least a three- to five-year process--although that seems impossibly long." (71)
"Leaders managing difficult personal transitions are also engaged in many other changes in the organization. They are supporting teams, fostering collaboration and more participative processes, introducing new ways of thinking. They are setting a great many things in motion simultaneously within the organization." (73)
"Expect to be surprised by people's contributions." (81)
"In the 1990's, surveys began reporting disappointing failures with organization change. CEO's reported that up to 75% of their organizational change efforts didn not yield the promised results. These change efforts fail to produce what had been hoped for yet always produce a stream of unintended and unhelpful consequences. Leaders end up managing the impact of unwanted affects rather than the planned results that don't materialize." (83)
Old and New Organizational Change Strategies: How to change a machine:
1. Assign a manager
2. Set a goal that is biggger and better
3. Define the direct outcomes
4. Determine the measures
5. Dissect the problem
6. Redesign the machine
7. Implement the adaptation
8. Test the results
9. Assign blame
Four Core Principles of Change
Participation is not a choice.
We have no choice but to invite people to rethink, redesign, restructure the organization.... How many of your efforts were directed at selling a solution that you knew no one really wanted? How much of your energy went into redesigning the redesign of the redesign...? (88-89)
Life Always Reacts to Directives, It Never Obeys Them
It never matters how clear or visionary or important the message is. It can only elicit reactions, not straightforward compliance. If we recognize that this principle is always at work, it changes expectations of what can be accomplished with any communication." (90)
We Do Not See "Reality": We Each Create Our Own Interpretation of What's Real"
We see the world through who we are, or, as expressed by the poet Michael Chitwood: 'What you notice becomes your life.'" (91)
"We don't have to agree on an interpretation or hold identical values in order to aggree on what needs to be done." (92)
To Create Better Health in a Living System, Connect it to More of Itself
When a system is failing, or performing poorly, the solution will b discovered within the system if more and better connections are created." (93)
3 Rules for a School: 1.) Take care of yourself; 2.) Take care of each other; 3.) Take care of this place. (95)
"...the discipline of asking questions...:
1. Who else needs to be here?
2. What just happened?
3. Can we talk?
4. Who have we become?
The simplicity of these questions may lead you to believe they're not sufficient or important, but think about the types of inquiry they invite" (97).
"The startling conclusion is that most school systems aren't system. They are only boundary lines drawn by somebody, somewhere. They are not systems because they do not arise from a core of shared beliefs about the purpose..." (103)
"How many strategic plans, policy manuals, and curriculum materials collect dust on our shelves because we were not involved in their creation? ...people must always participate in the development of those things which affect them." (106)
"It is crucial to remember that, in organizations, we are working with webs of relationships. As webs, there is a lot to be learned about organizational change from contemplating spider webs." (106)
"What if we stop assuming that technology's value to a teacher is self-evident? What if we stop assuming that anybody who doesn't adopt new technology is an antiquated Luddite whose only interest is to stop the march of progress? If we give up on these assumptions, we can begin a different conversation, one that helps us connect to one another and learn more about what we each find meaningful in our profession." (108)
"How might computers assist colleagues to become more more effective at their craft? How might technology make it easier to do the work they have defined as meaningful? If those links are made, then colleagues log on to e-mail and use the computers sitting on their desks to enhance student learning." (109)
"...participation is the only change process.... As organizational change facilitators and leaders, we must invite in all those who will be affected by the change. Those whom we fail to invite into the change process are the very people who will poison our process." (110)
"we haven't yet absorbed the simple truth that we can't force anybody to change. We can only involve them in the change process from the beginning and see what's possible. If change becomes meaningful to them, they will change. If we want their support, we will welcome them as cocreators." (111)
Key Questions to Keep Asking:
Who's missing? Who else needs to do this work?
Is the meaning of this work still clear? Is it changing?
Are we becoming more truthful with each other?
Is information becoming more open and easier to access?
Where are we using imposition? Participation?
What are we learning about partnering with confusion and chaos?
"Uncertainty leads to increased fear. As fear levels rise, it is normal for people to focus on personaal security and safety. We tend to withdraw, to become more self-serving and more defensive. We focus on smaller and smaller details, those things we can control. It becomes more difficult to work together and nearly impossible to focus on the bigger picture. (115)
"The primary way to prepare for the unknown is to attend to the quality of our relationships, to how well we know and trust one another." (117)
"In order to counter the negative organizational dynamics stimulated by stress and uncertainty, we must give full attention to the quality of our relationships. Nothing else works, no new tools or technical applications, no redesigned organizational chart. The solution is each other. If we can rely on one another, we can cope with almost anything. Without each other, we retreat into fear. There is one core principle in developing these relationships. People must be engaged in meaningful work together if they are to transcend individual concerns and develop new capacities." (118)
"When chaos wipes the ground from beneath us, the organization's identity gives us some place to stand. When the situation grows confusing, our values provide the means to make clear and good decisions. A clear sense of organizational (and personal) identity gives people the capacity to respond intelligently in the moment, and to choose actions that are congruent. Times of crisis always display the coherence or incoherence at the heart of our organization. Are we pulling together or rushing off in many different directions? Are people's actions and choices congruent with the stated values, or are they basing their deciisions on different values. If they are using different values, are these the real rules of the game, the true although unspoken values?" (119)
"Processes, such as conversation and storytellling, help us connect at a depth not available through charts and PowerPoint presentations." (120)
"...we are becoming aware of the deep human need for shared symbolic expression when we experience something tragic. Also the need for celebration when we've experienced something wonderful." (122)
"There is no substitute for direct, personal contact with employees. Even though managers are more stressed and have less time, it is crucial to pick up the phone and connect with those you want to retain. Personal converstations with key people, with experienced workers, with innovators, with those just joining the organization, with younger workers new to the workforce--all of these and more need to know that their leader is thinking about them." (122)
"We move from the old to the new only if we let go. Instead of fleeing from the fearful place of chaos or trying to rescue people from it, leaders can help people stay with the chaos, help them walk through it together, and look for new insights and capacities that always emerge." " (127)
"Is this decision going to bring people together? Wiill it weave a stronger web? Or will it create further disintegration and separation?"
"I've observed the power of starting a meeting with two minutes of silent contemplation. Or, when the meeting gets heated, of asking people to stop talking and just be silent for a minute. It's amazing how people come back into the fray if we've had those moments to pause." (130)
"New leaders must invent the future while dealing with the past. In speaking with these new leaders, it is very clear that they refuse to carry the past into the future. They do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past having, in many cases, personally suffered from ineffective or brutal leadership. They want to work in new ways, but these new ways of organizing, the new processes for implementing change, have yet to be developed. So they do double duty. They must invent new processes and organizing forms, and simultaneously also solve the complex problems of this time." (167)
"To step aside from aggressive responses to problem solving requires a little-used skill: humility. Humility is a brave act--we have to admit that we don't have the answer. We need more information, more insight. This kind of humility is rare in competitive, embattled organizations and communities, but it is what we need to find real solutions. One wise educator put it this way: 'Humility is admitting that I don't know the whole story. Compassion is recognizing that you don't know it, either.'" (184)
"The task is to have each voice heard, for each person to make a contribution to the circle. (See www.turningoneanother.net... (186)
What are we blind to? What can't we yet see?
What additional information and perspectives do we need?
"Many things need to be considered for destruction: outmoded beliefs; inappropriate or harmful values; traditional practices that no longer make sense; habitual behaviors that are dysfunctional; aspects of the culture that impede future direction; programs that have outlived their usefulness; policies that don't work as intended; specific individuals who refuse to change or who block progress." (193)
"Without aggression, it becomes possible to think well, to be curious about differences, and to enjoy each other's company. Our energy finds new channels in creativity rather than defense. We learn that it is possible to feel passionate about a position without having to resist or outmaneuver those with differing passions." (196)
If you're willing to be disturbed, I recommend that you begin a conversation with someone who thinks differently than you do. Listen as best you can for what's different, for what surprises you. Try to stop the voice of judgment or opinion. Just listen. At the end of this practice, notice whether you learned anything new. Notice whether you develop a better relationship with the person you just talked with. If you try this with several people, you might find yourself laughing in delight as you realize how many unique ways there are to be human.(212)
"Sometimes we hesitate to listen for differences because we don't want to change. We're comfortable with our lives, and if we listened to anyone who raised questions, we'd have to get engaged in changing things. If we don't listen, things can stay as they are. But most of us do see things in our life or in the world that we would like to be different. If that's true, we have to listen more, not less. And we have to be willing to move into the discomfort of uncertainty and confusion." (213)
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