Posts from — August 2007

I facilitated at a conference recently at which some very impressive people from the Institute of the Future also spoke. The Institute, in their own words, “works with organizations of all kinds to help them make better, more informed decisions about the future. We provide the foresight to create insights that lead to action.”

They were there to present their 2007 Map of the Decade, six stories or perspectives on the trends that were going to shape society and the decisions we make for our lives.
I was given a version of the Map. I found it significant that, in all the detail, the word leader only appeared once, as did the word leadership.
These concepts and the roles and contexts they point to are, apparently, not part of the future. What was described again and again in the Map were individuals gathering together and organizing themselves around issues, themes or opportunities. Think groups, networks, collections, gatherings, communities – a distribution of power around passion, competence and responsibility.

Forget leaders and followers.

I read in Professional Manager magazine another article advising us to care for our employees as they struggle with the rate and pace of change. All that stress they’re suffering…The writer was a business psychologist, so you could see his point, I think.
This babyfication of grown adults has been an unintended (I hope) side effect of the “people are your most important asset” thrust of the last 15 years. It is now unquestioned that it is part of a boss’ job to protect me from pain – as opposed to allowing me to construct a mature set of responses to the reality of pain in the world. That protection-instinct feels good for the giver and the taker perhaps, but is not the healthiest long term choice.
How about some different places to run when change comes knocking, instead of always under the stairs where we can convince ourselves that change is hard and the boss ought to make it better. How about:
Responsibility: “No matter how I choose to respond to change, last time I looked I was still drawing a monthly salary from this company that is changing. The salary is a reward for me giving of my best – in any set of conditions…”
Duty: “I have a duty to confront the complexity of change head on, to work out its workings and our contributions to it, good and bad. By doing so I increase my company’s capacity for coping with change in the future. In other words, how I choose to respond to change – as baby or adult – is a legacy I leave. (And what do I show to my children of resilience, courage and creativity?)
Enjoyment: “And in this way, I might even begin to break away from the pack and suggest that change is fun, bringing as it does opportunity, challenges, growth and new life.”

But you won’t see that if you’re under the stairs.