Leadership and the New Science

This book was fantastic! It is not a light read so be patient and take your time! Below are my key take aways from the book- things which captured my curiosity. I hope you find one phrase that creates curiosity, or it pushes your thinking in a new dimension. The author studies process structures and new science, the new discoveries of biology, quantum physics, and chaos theory - changing our understandings around how the world works.  This is a read about new science and how its concepts apply to organizations, leadership, learning and development and change. The world has been about change and constant creation as ways of sustaining order and capacity. The balance of creative processes and dynamic continuous change that still require order; thus we live in a world where order and change, autonomy and control are not opposites. Curiosity not certainty is the saving grace - chaos and unpredictability create learning and development, change and progress. Are you a curious person? Love this word, “Autopoiesis” it is Greek, and represents a process for creating and renewing itself for growth and change.  Self-organization, processes within help maintain a whole. The book explained that disorder is explored as the primary source of new order - growth appears from disequilibrium not balance. The theory of how many individuals and organizations believe and treat people as machines - which causes control vs. order ultimately destroys individual and collective vitality.  I wonder why it is that so many people seek balance, is it the comfort of balance? What words come to your mind when you think of disequilibrium? The book went on to discuss individually we are quantum – we live in a quantum world. Relationships are the primary element for success and they provide potential by giving up predictability. Thought is how to utilize relationship building/relations to enhance learning and development. Ask yourself, have you reached your potential? Reality- it is co-created through individual acts of observation and once an observer chooses what to perceive the effect of the perception is immediate and dramatic.  There is a great thought around arguing and encouragement to move away from arguing about who is right or wrong and to focus on issues of effectiveness, on reflective questions of what happened, and what actions might have served us better.  Agility and intelligence are skills needed in today’s organizations where individuals are acutely aware of what is currently happening, and individuals need to be better quicker learners about what just happened.  How many of you rather it be as an individual or groups take the time to reflect? Do you have lesson learned logs, share the lessons. More importantly, are you not afraid to fail? Doesn’t learning happen from failing? There were more thoughts throughout the book on the need for fewer descriptions of tasks – need to learn how to facilitate process. Are you agile in your thinking? The need to become savvy about how to foster relationships. Need to learn how to nurture growth, learning and development, etc. When was the last time you learned something new? It also discussed the need to become better at listening, conversing, respecting another’s uniqueness. It shared ideas on organizational power, and that power needs to flow through organizations-power can’t be bounded or designated to certain functions or levels. This is more of a note to myself to remember this- Field metaphor>Fields- unseen forces, invisible influences that become apparent through their effects. Shift in focus, and challenge the invisible powers that exert influence. Filters= blindness. missteps, misinterpretations and more chaos. One can never see a field but can see its influence by looking at the behaviour. What you see is what you get. Looking for certain information evokes the information one is looking for and simultaneously eliminates one’s opportunity to observe other information. Question is how to remain open to information, as one losses when one goes looking for info. Ask yourself, are you truly open, do you participate in group think in your team, etc.? It discussed professional communities= quantum fields- how to leverage PCs for L&D, etc. This I found fascinating as I was working at a company and inquired, helped design and implement – I am so curious about professional communities and their impact. Professional Communitiess- Quantum physics describe interconnectedness – seamless web of mutual responsibilities and collaboration, partnership, interrelationships and mutual commitments. Note to myself: Morphic resonance- process where individuals are influenced by other like them. consisting of patterns that govern the development of forms, structures and arrangements. Similarity> self-organize>process of evolution and variation, etc. There was discussion about the non-material forces in organizations= culture, values, vision, ethics, etc. As an HR professional, this got me thinking about rules, procedures, etc. In order to change org behavior we must attend to the fields we create. Clarity- say what we mean and seek deeper level of integrity in our words and acts. Organizations require individuals to state, clarify, reflect, model, and fill space with messages individuals care about. What are your internal and external communications? There was a comparison of S-matrix vs. typical organizational boxed charts. S-matrix shows how the energy meets up and creates new possibilities. Do you utilize an S-matrix or org. boxes? I found the insights on Equilibrium really interesting, as she stated it is not a desirable state for organizations, but sure path to organization death. Things alive evolve and engage with environment and continue to grow and evolve. Why is everyone so comfortable – do we create a safe environment for learning and development? Again, there is something here about agile, thinking, change, learning, performance, etc. Self-organizing systems are adaptive and resilient not rigid and stable. What kind of system do you find yourself in at work? Honestly, think about if rigid and stable, where is the creativity, innovation etc. and the negative impact this has on you, your team, the organization, the shareholders, etc. 2 critical elements; clear sense of identity and freedom. What about your knowledge sharing at work, collaboration, etc. Have you implemented blogs, SharePoint, etc. and other social media internally to allow self-organization? Note: Self-reference-when environment shifts and system notices, it changes in a way that remains consistent with itself. Now we have all worked and heard the grapevine stories, etc. Rumours- small disturbances that get into system and are amplified through networks. Different parts of system get it, interpret it, change it, and disturbance grows. When rumours proliferate and gossip is out of hand=people lack the genuine honest meaningful info. I remember once witnessing this experiment. Tons of people in one room, all asked to stand in a single line back to front. One was told something in secret and asked to share with person ahead until the last person repeated the phrase….and guess what…nothing similar to what the original phrase was. Ask yourself, do you have transparency at your office? If not, what is the cost of lack of transparency, open communications, how does this negatively impact trust and behaviour? I read recently about HomeAway’s Table Talk-very cool!! Note for self: Bifurcation point- moment of great fear, with faint sense of expectation. Self-transcendence- evolving for better fitness. When I think of this word, it makes me think about creativity! How many of us take time off work, go out for the mid-day thinking session away from office, or go for a jog…whatever. When was the last time you purposefully allowed yourself to during work hours? The firms allowing time for this are on to something great! Genuinely, ideas, creativity and innovation don’t happen when folks are at their desks…just ask 3M. Love this: Stasis, balance and equilibrium are temporary states> dynamic, adaptive and creative endure! Paradoxical but natural processes exist for growth and self-renewal. What are our paradoxical balances you need? So consider if a leader, (example) do you find the balance to be visionary and yet to keep one's feet on the ground. To be dynamic and yet be reflective. How about to be sure of yourself and yet be humble? If you drafted a short list of paradoxes, what are they? Ah, the book went on to discuss order and information.  It shared that order is the creation of information. Information is not controllable, stable and obedient. It can’t be managed. Information requires free movement. Information is nourishment. The challenge to reduce control functions that restrict information flow. As an HR professional, again this makes me think of the challenge of skills needed for future, shared knowledge, etc. Are you and your organization trying to control the information? Note to self: Order= emerges as elements of system. Work together discovering each other and together inventing new capacities. Seems we are all afraid of “chaos” and yet chaos is necessary for creation of anything new! When was the last time you heard someone say, “Today is chaotic” and the reply being, “That is GREAT!” I liked this discussion so much, that I made one for my logo! Fractals are continuous behaviours that emerge after countless iterations. I.e broccoli, clouds, rivers, mountains, brains, lungs, etc. A deeply patterned object. What are your reoccurring behaviours and themes? Thoughts from book regarding leaders: Leaders to help us develop require a clear identity for dark moments of confusion- Leaders to support during learning need a connection to how to live by values-Leaders to understand that one is best require to be controlled by concepts that invite participation, not policies and procedures that curtail contribution. This reminds me of Aristotle’s sum is greater than the individual parts. The author shared one can’t understand a system by looking at individual parts. Need to work with the whole of a system. Systems sensibility- Challenge the need to identify a problem and replace it> individual behaviours co-evolve as individuals interact with system dynamics. To change individual or local behaviour need to tune into system-wide influences. This analogy was cool-Spider web- slight pressure in one area jiggle entire web. Web breaks and web is re-weaved creating stronger connections.  To make a system stronger- create stronger relationships. 3 domains of a system: identify, information and relationships. A system becomes more self-aware and healthier. Change results from a change in meaning. Meaning is created by the process of self-reference. One must see how it is contributes to more of what one has defined as meaningful to change, etc. What does your center look like? How are you, patterns of behaviour, values, intentions…. Healthy processes create better relationships among us> more clarity of who we are, more info on what is going on, Creates new connections> growth. Do you engage in psychometrics? How might knowing your preference and type provide clarity, etc.? Need to learn to cope with chaos-understand what motivates humans, adopt strategies and behaviours that lead to order not more chaos. People must understand how they learn before they can learn what to learn, etc. Do you know your learning preference? Do you know your team members’ preferences? The book shared key leadership criteria: innovative, motivate, resiliency, and networks. What in your opinion are the key leadership criteria? It further shared: Leaders need to trust that people will invent their own solutions and use the resources they have.  Leaders need to expect and value unique and inventive responses created in each community rather than enforcing compliance to one-size-fits-all. Criteria to judge effective criteria: abilities to communicate a powerful vision, to motivate people to work hard for them, to achieve results, exceed plans, and to implement change. Networks- fuelled more by passion than information. Begin with information. Members find each other through networks, learn from each other, develop strategies and actions together. Once the network has momentum, passion and individual creativity it is propelled forward. Essential structure is horizontal not hierarchical and ad hoc not unified. We have all heard this quote: No problem is ever solved by the same thinking that created it. Any thoughts come to your mind as you read my above takeaways? Link to book on Amazon.