cyclesThere are many maps and models of human development that illustrate how individuals function in relation to their community — and how they co-evolve.
Spiral Dynamics, published in 1995 by Don Beck and Chris Cowan, provides a glimpse at how communities and their values unfold in stages — from magic (tribal) to mythic (literal) to mental (modern) to integral (post-modern) and beyond. In 2018, we saw the emergence of memetic tribes — the idea that increased cultural fragmentation has made it impossible to describe people (particularly in America) in categories of left/right or red/blue. Each of these tribes or communities exist in a digital bubble that reinforces their biases and beliefs and goads them into responding to various manufactured crises. In some cases, it’s secularization (and the crisis of meaning) or atomization (and the crisis of belonging). For others, it’s stimulation and the crisis of sobriety. But every tribe has a battle to wage, and they mean to win it. Unfortunately, soon after this phenomena reared its dangerous head, we experienced a worldwide pandemic that saw people hunkered down in their homes and reinforcing these digital bubbles with the unforgiving brick and mortar of cognitive bias and propaganda. Some of them have still not emerged. From 2010-2020, I led an interspiritual community and became involved in the global interfaith movement. I traveled the world speaking about the future of spirituality and the peace-making potential of interfaith dialogue. I saw first hand the plight of people committed to personal and social transformation. I witnessed those doing the sacred work of pulling people out of their filter bubbles and bringing them to the table for actual conversations that would transform hearts, neighborhoods, and communities. The four paths of “Creation Spirituality” were made popular among Progressive/Mystical Christian circles in 1983 when Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox published his book, Original Blessing. The paths are as follows:
Like the four seasons of the calendar, this wheel is one of many religious lenses (Eastern, Western, Native/First Peoples) with which we may view community cycles through time. These wheels, models, and metaphors are how members of the community know it is the right time to plant, harvest, grieve, and celebrate. Whichever maps or models you are using, this shared vision of the world is the cosmology of the organization – how it views the universe. This is where I remind you that all organizations are cults – with their own beliefs and values. I’ve helped countless businesses write their core values, identify the behaviors that support those values, and profess publicly what they believe. And I’ve done it long enough to know that this is what William James meant by the “inclusivity principle” and what Ninian Smart meant by the “Doctrinal Dimension” in his book Dimensions of the Sacred. These beliefs hold groups together. There are many other maps of specific processes that move through time. Some examples include:
In my consulting life, the most well-worn of these has been Ichak Adizes’ Lifecycle of a Business, which we delve into here. And, there are meta-theories (theories of everything) such as Integral Theory (popularized by Ken Wilber in 1995) or the Theory of Process (laid out in Arthur M. Young’s The Reflexive Universe in 1976) that attempt to explain how all of the theories and metaphors throughout time fit together. One thing all of the models share is a holistic kind of symmetry that balances the outer, empirical world with the inner, subjective experience; and draws a straight line between the conditions for change in the individual and the broader evolution of groups or communities.
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Organizations are made of people. They are microcosms of a larger social body. These groups perform and behave in distinct (and sometimes predictable) ways. They can be businesses, families, collectives, cults, or nations. It could be argued that all businesses are cults, but that’s another topic for another time.
These organizations are so complex that we have turned to metaphor in order to comprehend and understand them. In his 2006 book, Images of Organization, Gareth Morgan writes, “Metaphor is often regarded just as a device for embellishing discourse, but its significance is much greater than this. The use of metaphor implies a way of thinking and a way of seeing that pervade how we understand our world generally. For example, research in a wide variety of fields has demonstrated that metaphor exerts a formative influence on science, on our language, and on how we think, as well as on how we express ourselves on a day-to-day basis.” Whether an organization identifies as a machine, a hive mind, a band of pirates, or a party of explorers, they must find a path to trust and cohesion as they seek to achieve and face the unknown together. The cultural hallmarks of any functioning organization (or community of people) are how they communicate and what they create together — from music to meaning to marketing plans. At Illustrious, we’ve claimed to be the Leader in Team Alignment since 2022. We know what it’s like to turn the pain of transformation into the adventure of a lifetime. We’ve seen first-hand the amazing results that our clients get by working with us. And we always find it difficult to explain them to people who are curious about what we do – or curious about whether engaging us would be a good fit. So, during our recent 2024 Power Visioning Retreat – where we took a look back at what we accomplished in 2023 and imagined what we will accomplish in 2024 – we asked ourselves the question, “How are we specifically contributing to Team Alignment?” After exchanging some quick blank expressions, we got to work brainstorming the process we see our clients go through all the time – as they move from confusion to clarity, or from a milk crate full of tangled cables into a compelling and well-organized stage show. THE ILLUSTRIOUS FORMULA FOR TEAM ALIGNMENT:
EVOKING CURIOSITY
What usually happens first with the teams we work with is they are somehow exposed to the visual tools and frameworks we use at Illustrious – whether that’s graphic recording, The Grove’s Strategic Visioning or Team Performance models, or the various visual frameworks found in Gamestorming or Liberating Structures. Either way, there is a ‘Woah!” moment that leads to curiosity. This curiosity can look like excitement or skepticism. And while we’d prefer everyone be excited right away, it’s OK for the team to be skeptical in the beginning. One particularly resistant client said, “Hold on! We’re deciding our strategy based on cartoons?!” Few people have experienced the science of visual thinking proven out in a business environment. Few people have been through a process that starts out as stickies on the wall, moves into tension and groaning and pushback, and ends up as humans witnessing each other and hearing each other without judgment. But each small win helps make the process easier for even the most resistant in the room. INTEREST Next, the visuals tend to create a focused attention. People lean in, either to learn more about the tools (usually posters on the wall or canvases in apps like MURAL), or to pick them apart and tear holes in them. It matters little to us, as long as they’re leaning in and engaged. At this point, either in the spirit of herd mentality (agreement) or pushback (disagreement), we see two camps emerge – “I’m interested in learning more” or “I’m interested in proving this wrong.” Again, the group’s interest and engagement is what matters. Once most fears are addressed, defensiveness is taken down a notch, and people are assured that no one wants to do their job for them, the group usually starts to lean in the same direction. ORIENTATION This is when the fun starts to happen. I liken this stage to a pile of metal shavings being activated by a magnet. Slowly, and one by one, the shavings will start to wiggle and vibrate. Then, they turn in the same direction, sometimes piling on top of or crawling over each other in order to answer the pull of the magnet. And, suddenly, in a rush, they are like one body – or a murmuration of birds – having one shape, one energy, one purpose. That stirring of energy and positive provocation is what it looks like when a group is oriented together and facing a problem or objective arm-in-arm. INSPIRING COMMITMENT Finally, once the team is curious, interested, and facing the same direction, the primary aim of any visual tool or communication is to inspire commitment. The team moves away from dependence and resistance, gets clearer on their roles and responsibilities, has a better grasp on the resources they need or lack, and discovers new ways to plan and make decisions. This confidence fills the team’s sails and creates a renewed feeling of camaraderie and teamwork. Culture improves, communication improves, productivity increases. Because the team is saying “Yes” to each other – and to the mission. ### If you have questions about how this looks in action or would like to see this kind of alignment happen on your team, let's schedule some time to chat. Illustrious is a leader in the change management and team alignment space. Since its founding in 2020, Illustrious has helped companies orient, pivot, scale, and simplify. Here are the four core values that drive their team of talented, visual consultants.
Energizing Creativity As artists, we believe there is a direct line between innovation or creativity and our ability to be in the present moment and improvise. This invisible line can be tense or slack. When it is tuned up it can be played like a guitar or piano. We are at our best when helping our clients create harmony from dissonance and we love helping them shine. Compassionate Curiosity As facilitators and coaches, we treat active listening as a valued skill in order to discover needs and opportunities. We genuinely like people and want to learn more about them. We cherish stories and love hearing them. People are at their best when they feel heard, valued, trusted, and understood. Belief in Human Potential As humans, we have a relentless belief in the greatness of other humans. We don’t see them in their current state of blame, confusion, uncertainty, fear, or insecurity. We see the white, hot light at their center. We see them on their path to future growth as they commit to being the ideal version of themselves. Humans are at their best when someone sees them deeply and believes in them. Commitment to Quality Outcomes As thought partners in your business, we are focused on professional mastery. That means we are committed to learning, transparent processes, dress and technical rehearsals, and enthusiastic attention to detail. The sooner we get it right, the sooner you can identify the bright line through your organization’s thinking. A business is at its best when its leaders and teams are aligned on the vision, culture, story, and strategy. DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) initiatives are growing quickly in organizations around the world. Leaders and entire departments dedicated to DEI – or EDIB (equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging) – are being installed in for-profit and nonprofit organizations. These teams are committed to deeply embedding DEI principles into the values and actions of the business so that it can be more accessible, welcoming, and empowering.
Here we’ll discuss the “E” in DEI. Compared to diversity and inclusion, the words equity and equality (with which equity is sometimes substituted) are ambiguous terms that can be defined very differently from organization to organization. According to Robert Harris, Director of EDIB at National Audubon Society, it's "not advisable to use equity and equality interchangeably." "In general," he says, "equality is when folks receive the same resources in amount and proportion and equity is when differences are recognized. Resource allocation varies based on those differences to achieve equality." How you implement your DEI initiatives will depend on how these terms are defined. Your definition of these terms will also influence your culture deck, hiring process, team charter, operating agreements, mission statement, media/investor relations, etc. Making sure that they are clear and meaningful for everyone on the team is very important. Equity may be defined in the following ways:
To review, diversity means that you have various people in the room, equity means that there is awareness that they are not all on equal footing, and inclusion means that you have a process for engaging them. Equality is the outcome of people being equally resourced. If you’d like to have a conversation about team performance, team design, or team development, please schedule a discovery call today. THE 7 TYPES OF INNOVATION
ISO TC 279 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity realizing or redistributing value." At Illustrious, we define innovation as the act of creativity and experimentation that turns your best ideas (and even your best failures) into value. This means that whether we’re talking about corporate innovation or a small business that encourages innovation best practices on small teams, you can’t have innovation without the ability to 1) generate and elevate new ideas, 2) iterate ideas into process maps and prototypes, and 3) validate and scale those idea prototypes into the right audience fit. Innovation strategy falls into numerous categories. These include:
THE 3 HORIZONS OF INNOVATION An organization’s innovation strategy also falls into what McKinsey and Company call horizons. These are the time-bound areas of focus for innovation efforts. The first horizon (H1) is the home for any short-term innovation strategy and includes both “incremental” and “notable” shifts along the value scale. Incremental shifts include improvements or additional unique features to products and services (think a toothbrush with rubber grips or a flipchart with handles). According to Magnus Penker, author of How to Assess and Measure Business Innovation, “notable” shifts include a “distinguishable advance in design, process or business model” (think the RAZR phone or disposable hearing aids). The second horizon (H2) includes mid- to long-term innovation efforts and results in significant or “radical” shifts. This means there is an advance in the product or experience design as well as to the process or business model (think Southwest Airlines or iPod/iTunes). The third horizon (H3) is where we see game-changing transformational shifts. The hallmark of the third horizon is that at least two important advances are made in a combination of design, process or business model. (Think market disruptors like the razor and blades model or the light bulb and electrical grid.) Each of these corporate innovation types requires a different leadership style (entrepreneurial, democratic/participatory, coaching/charismatic, etc.). Each type requires a decision to buy, build, partner or do “open” innovation (collaboration outside the walls of the business). With each leap, what got you there will not get you where you’re going. At each horizon, you will take on new or different team members, mindsets, language, business systems and management methods. When you commit to the practice of innovation, you are not only committing to changing your surroundings, but also to changing yourself. If you’re ready to have a conversation about the inner work required to lead innovation in your business, we’d love to help you shine. |
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ABOUT THE AuthorJoran Slane Oppelt is an international speaker, author and consultant with certifications in coaching, storytelling, design thinking and virtual facilitation. Archives
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