Transformation: The potential of being human
— Being willing to say YES to what is and to what is next
How often, if ever, do you feel completely fulfilled, at peace, or childishly joyous without any logical reason?
If someone had asked me that question five years ago, I would most certainly have answered; “never”! I wouldn’t have been able to consciously remember a time when I felt completely fulfilled without reason or external influence. It’s not until more recently I sometimes, and more often so, find myself feeling completely at ease or feeling joyous without any ‘good’ reason, just by being alive at that moment. To be able to experience this is one of the greatest gifts that I ever been given. It still feels somewhat a bit mysterious and sometimes even unsettling, at least for the mind who is busy trying to find non-existing rational evidence for such an experience.
The most exciting breakthroughs of the twenty-first century will not occur because of technology, but because of an expanding concept of what it means to be human. — John Naisbitt
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to portray that I’ve gone through some mysterious transformation where I only enjoy blissfulness and peace, far from it. My life, as for most other people, flows between peaks and valleys, highs and lows, excitement and fear, laughter and tears. Also, it didn’t just happen, I have invested a lot of time, money and above all courage in trying to transform this life into one worth living.
Transformation comes in many forms; it is uniquely different for everyone and highly personal. So, given that, is there a way that we can tell if transformation is present in our lives? Well, in my experience there are several signs that we can look for such as; that we continuously shift
from what do I need to how do I contribute,
from how do I compare, to how does this person contribute to me, and
from how do I impress this person, to how can this person inspire me.
As human beings, we constantly shift between being aligned to (i.e. believing) our monkey mind (scarcity thoughts and limiting beliefs) and being aligned to who we are (whole and complete human beings). We can also refer to this as being ‘above’ or ‘below the line’. When we’re ‘above the line’, we’re in a conscious and relaxed state, where we can easily access compassion and empathy. From this place, we expand, we see opportunities, we trust, and we’re connected to ourselves and others.
However, for different reasons, we tend to, at times, fall below the line. In this state, we’re mostly unconscious and disconnected from ourselves and others. We’re in survival mode and become focused on what we’re lacking and what we need. From this place, we tend to experience comparison, doubt, judgement, frustration, excessive thinking, worrying, addiction, defensiveness and the list goes on. Our amygdala is activated, and if we spend enough time in such a stress state, our operating system (nervous system) eventually becomes overheated, and that’s when people tend to ‘burn out’.
At least, that’s what happened to me. It got so bad at one stage that I couldn’t even read a standard newspaper article as my brain was incapable of processing, remembering and making sense of the information. It’s a scary place that I don’t wish upon anyone. However, I needed to go there to make significant changes in my life. Graced with the fantastic support from people close to me and through the guidance of some incredible human beings, I managed to change the trajectory of my life.
Eventually, this is why I decided to become a coach; I’m deeply passionate about supporting people to realise their greatness so that they can experience how powerful they are when they take action from that place. It’s not a magical process; it just requires someone to be willing to say yes to what’s next in their life.
“Until you take ownership for your life, you will always be chasing happiness.” — Sean Stephenson
Through the process of action-oriented coaching, we use immersive experiences, practical and powerful tools, iterative practice as the formula for achieving success and building new habits. Are you willing and ready to experience more clarity, focus, ease and grace in your life? If the answer is yes, we will support you to experience success much quicker, and with more ease, than you ever thought possible.
From [Strategy] Execution to Evolution
– shifting the paradigm to achieve transformative execution
Most organisations today are challenged by the looming threat of disruption and face an unprecedented rate of change, and therefore it’s safe to say that we operate in a highly complex and unpredictable world.
A system theorist would tell us that in a complex system, due to its diverse components operating at multiple levels (FutureLearn, 2019), we cannot control outcomes or solve problems, they can only be managed. Therefore, we are always in a relationship with a complex system. We will come back to the significance of this notion, shortly.
A complicated system, on the other hand, is highly predictable and dependable due to the causal (cause and effect) relationship of the components in the system. Therefore, outcomes can be controlled, and problems can always be fixed in a complicated system, as long as there is sufficient understanding of the system.
Now, this is good news and music to the human ear. The desire to control outcomes and our environment in order to stay safe is deeply embedded in our unconscious from millions of years of evolutionary programming (see one of our previous articles on the Negativity Bias for more info https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/contributiondna-carl-johan-axelsson). Add to this the profound influence, even to this date, on organisational development from authors such as A. J. P. Taylor, the creator of Scientific Management, also known as ‘Taylorism’.
Taylor was on a relentless quest to develop a scientific process that would deliver maximum efficiency. Basically, the idea is to maximise output from resources (these days we sometimes refer to them as people) through automation, repetition, and by applying rigours control and compliance mechanisms. This approach makes absolute sense if you’re dealing with a complicated system as it’s then possible, with high probability, to predict the output based on the input.
However, a Control & Compliance approach is highly ineffective when we’re dealing with a complex system. Why? Because we’re trying to solve a problem using a complicated system approach in a highly complex system, it just doesn’t work (Dignan, 2018). For organisations, this systems confusion is highly problematic and increasingly so as the environment is exponentially becoming more disruptive, i.e., increasingly complex, and the gap widens even further until it reaches its tipping point. Therefore, it’s no surprise that fifty-two per cent (52%) of all the S&P500 companies since 2000 have either gone bankrupt, been acquired, or ceased to exist as a result of digital disruption (HBR, 2017).
Many organisations have identified the urgent need to change their culture and become more adaptive. Hence, the current emphasis on investing heavily in transformation and cultural change programs. However, despite their best efforts, they are often only able to achieve marginal improvements and temporary change. Here’s the trick; it’s not possible to design a new culture and expect it to be successfully ‘implemented’.
Why? Well, culture is only a bi-product, or an outcome, of consistent behaviours over time (Rework, 2018). Hence, to change the culture, we need to change the underlying behaviours, and this is only possible if we also change the conclusions that inform such behaviours. This is where, in our view, most organisations fall short; they try to change the culture without closely examining and dismantling the conclusions that are no longer valid and/or no longer serves them.
“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” – Peter Drucker
This becomes evident when you look beyond the shiny surface of the fashionable agile workspaces, daily scrum meetings, team retrospectives, and we look at the underlying structures, policies, reward systems, and leadership paradigms, we see that many organisations are still heavily invested in a Control & Compliance paradigm. It’s an artefact of Taylorism and it relies on a complicated system approach, geared towards maximising efficiency. However, given the level of uncertainty and complexity in today’s operating environment, one could argue that a complex system approach, based on Trust & Autonomy, is a much better bit for such an environment.
We’re not suggesting that one system is right or better, nor are we saying that they are binary systems. Instead, Control & Compliance and Trust & Autonomy sit on a continuum. Where organisations are on this continuum is based on their maturity and they will either evolve, based on the changing conditions in their environment, or they will eventually be eliminated through the process of natural selection as other organisations will be a better fit for that particular environment.
So coming back to the significance of relationships that we alluded to at the beginning of this article. In fact, one of the critical success factors of a highly adaptive organisation is their ability to be in a healthy relationship with their environment. Rather than trying to control the environment, they are exceptional at sensing (picking up on signals) and responding (executing) to changing circumstances in their operating environment. In other words, rather than applying a traditional top-down and directive approach where strategy is cascaded through tightly governed implementation, teams evolve the strategy by adapting the execution based on the current state of the operating environment.
However, for any organisation to maintain strong relationships with the environment they predominantly need to take a trust & autonomy system approach with the emphasis on removing unnecessary control mechanisms (i.e., policies and procedures) and building a culture of trust, displayed through leadership and teamwork. Therefore, the first step towards becoming truly adaptive is to examine the validity of closely held assumptions and to dismantle outdated conclusions to create an enabling organisational ‘playing field’.
There is a better way
– Success stand on the shoulders of teams!
Just for a minute, imagine what it would be like to work for an organisation that is truly purpose-led, where individuals collaborate and contribute to deliver meaningful work, fuelled by powerful, autonomous and self-managed teams; an organisation that is known for its ability to consistently adapt to a rapidly changing environment, and effectively evolve and execute strategy.
It might, or might not, sound like utopia to you but either way, it’s not! On the contrary, there is a growing number of pioneering organisations leading the way, and these companies are setting an entirely new standard in terms of organisational maturity.
For these organisations, Strategy is not a comprehensive powerpoint presentation brought to life only through a series of static and one-way executive roadshows, hoping that somehow the strategic intent will miraculously translate into execution at the front-line. Instead, strategic direction is guided by purpose, intention and learning. The strategy is a signpost for teams as they lead, own and execute that strategy. It’s an iterative, dynamic, collaborative and organic process constantly evolving through learning and experimentation.
Culture is not an inorganic aspiration, brainstormed into a set of shared values, and captured on a laminated poster with beautiful icons. Instead, it’s authentic, coherent and merely a by-product of consistent behaviours over time (Rework 2018). These behaviours gravitate around collaboration, authenticity, ownership, learning and experimentation.
These companies don’t lead with policies and procedures, policies that merely are control mechanisms in disguise based on the underlying assumption that people can’t be trusted. Instead, these companies believe that people generally want to do good and that their true nature is wanting to contribute and make a difference. Therefore, their role is to provide individuals and teams with the freedom and trust they require to be truly autonomous and self-managed.
“You can’t blow up bureaucracy with a bureaucratic change process. You can’t build a culture of trust with a program full of oversight and verification. Start the way you mean to finish.”- Aaron Dignam
Last year, I worked with Paul, Australian CEO of a Fortune 100 company, and his team. The scope of the engagement was to support them with the development and implementation of a new strategy. Faced with an unprecedented level of change and disruption, they predict that as much as 60% (!) of the current core business will have become obsolete by 2025, putting massive pressure on the organisation to adapt by creating new lines of business in adjacent spaces and uncharted territories.
From the outside, it looks like a typical management scenario of our time – a large, very traditional, global organisation trying to redefine and transform their business before the tide goes out. The recipe typically involves; a new strategy, some executive roadshows, cultural workshops, some new and fresh ways of working (e.g., ‘Agility at Scale’), and at the top of the shopping list you’ll find a handful of ‘strategic acquisitions’. However, too often this ambition of longevity and value creation turns into value destruction. The new strategy doesn’t translate into execution, the updated culture only becomes those laminated words on the wall in the boardroom, and the ‘agile at scale’ program stalls and finally suffocate under the compression of the old hierarchical and bureaucratical structures that prevail as the basic assumptions (mindset) in the organisation hasn’t changed.
“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” – Peter Drucker
However, this turned out to be a different story. Paul and his team bravely put a stake in the ground to do it differently this time, as they decided to learn from the many failed change efforts in the past. To them, the key was to take the approach of a learning organisation. One that is inclusive, engaging, iterative, experiential and that leverages the collective wisdom of the organisation. A cross-functional implementation team was formed with full autonomy and ownership of the implementation process. Part of their scope was also to act as coaches to the executive team, supporting them in clearly defining the strategic direction. They run a series of strategy workshops comprising of people from all parts of the organisation and based on the feedback and suggestions made during those sessions they iterated the strategy accordingly. They also run ‘fish tank’ sessions where high potentials ideated and suggested critical components of the go-to-market strategy.
However, the most critical enabler for this shift was the self-awareness, maturity and courage demonstrated by Paul and his executive team. They realised that for them to successfully lead this change, they had to upgrade their maturity and the way they work as a team. They needed to transform from ‘a group of high performing players’ to ‘an effective, cohesive leadership team’. In this particular instance, this team demonstrated the critical attributes needed in a truly mature and adaptive organisation – the ability to sense, respond, learn and adapt.
Think of the team that you’re a member of and consider the following:
- Are you a high performing team or a group of high-performing players?
- Do you have a clear team purpose for why you are a team?
- Is the team’s strategy clear, do you have shared goals, and does every player on the team know how they best contribute?
- Do members of the team tend to prioritise the interests of the team or the interests of themselves?
- Are team meetings generally meaningful and engaging or often a waste of time?
- Does the team have a cadence of reflection and learning built into the team rhythm or do tactical and urgent issues always take priority?
Disruption | Thriving or Struggling?
– Upgrading organisational maturity to thrive in disruption
In one of our previous articles, ‘eye-to-eye with corporate mortality,’ we established that the average life-expectancy for organisations are down by an astonishing 80%, from 90 years in 1935 to only 18 years today, and is expected to drop to 12 years, by 2027 (Foster, 2018). However, this is not necessarily overly surprising when considering the unprecedented rate of change and high levels of disruption that organisations have to manage in today’s environment.
There are several underlying factors for this exponential development such as globalisation, technology innovation, increased access to capital, policy changes, etc. However, the main catalyst is, without a doubt, digital disruption. Since 2000, 52% of the S&P500 companies have either gone bankrupt, been acquired, or ceased to exist as a result of digital disruption (HBR, 2017).
This dynamic is continuously rewriting the rules of engagement and the competitive landscape of most industries, and no one is no longer immune to disruption. Take Nokia as an example; in 2006 they were seen as the hallmark of Telecommunication and also the economic engine of a whole nation. With 60% market share in some markets, 9B in free cash flow, and a market cap that peaked at $95B (12/2007) they appeared to be unstoppable. Meanwhile, Steve Jobs and Apple had for several years been working on reimagining the potential of our handheld devices, and on the 29th of June 2007, they released the first version of the iPhone. With that, Apple completely redefined the mobile industry, forever. Exactly five years after the launch of the iPhone, Nokia was faced with bankruptcy and a market cap of just 5.1B, representing an astonishing 94.6% decline from the peak in 2017 (Macrotrends, 2019).
While disruption often seams sudden and unexpected for its corporate victims, in most cases it actually develops over a period of time until it reaches a tipping point (point of disruption) and the only reason it appears as sudden is either because of;
- an inability to identify the changing context (technology changes, changing customer preferences, etc.) or;
- an unwillingness to respond as this usually involves having to take on more risk, and/or cannibalise part of the existing core business or;
- an inability to effectively adapt to the changing conditions (often due to a combination of cultural-, structural- and capability factors).
Given the current speed of change, combined with the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) nature of today business environment, organisations are in desperate need of finding new ways of working to create the right conditions for sustainable, repeatable and powerful execution. Add to this the current organisational challenges that we explored in ‘eye-to-eye with corporate mortality’ including; the amount of value lost through poor execution; eroding public trust; collaboration ineffectiveness; and high levels of employee disengagement.
At the same time, people expect organisations to play a more critical role in our communities which require organisations to build social capital and to transform from a business enterprise to a social enterprise (Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends, 2018). As a result, organisations need a new level of maturity and leadership that is capable of managing a much more complex world-view, one that expands beyond profit and shareholder returns.
For organisations to be sustainable in a highly disruptive VUCA environment, a strong foundation of integrity and adaptability is required. Similar to the way engineers design a building in an area exposed to earthquakes, the construction requires both strength and flexibility for it to withstand a potential shock (disruption). If it’s too rigid, the structure will crack, and if it’s too flexible and not strong enough, it will lose its integrity and potentially come down. The requirements depend on; the magnitude of a potential earthquake (level of disruption in the industry); and the size of the building (scale of organisation).
We will explore this concept of organisational maturity and adaptability in much more depth in a series of future articles so stay tuned!
Eye-to-eye with corporate mortality
– Has the traditional organisation come to the end of its shelf-life?
The Organisation is perhaps the greatest invention of our time. The phenomenon of individuals, teams and communities coming together and organising themselves to produce things of value has arguably done more to advance our quality of life than any other invention.
It is almost impossible to find any human activity or artefact that is not made possible or vastly improved by this concept of organisation. Take a simple activity such as making a slice of toast. The bread you use is the result of farmers, millers, bakers, stores and a multitude of other organisations each contributing in a small way to get that loaf to your table. The same principle applies for the toaster you use, the spread on your toast, the electricity you need, and the list goes on. It’s a broad set of organised and integrated components that all work together in vast supply chains that allow you to enjoy tasty, fresh and well-toasted bread in the morning. It’s fair to assume that thousands of people and hundreds of organisations have in some way contributed to you being able to enjoy that everyday moment.
Still, despite organisations being a marvel of our time, they are not the happy, robust and resilient places we would want them to be. Consider the implications of the following five data points:
1. Organisational life expectancy: -80%
The average lifespan of organisations listed on S&P500 today is 18 years, compared to 90 years in 1935 and they are almost four times more likely to perish than was the case in 1965 (Martin Reeves, 2018).
2. The collective trust crisis
Globally only about 5 in 10 people trust organisations to do the right thing (Edelman Trust Barometer, 2018).
3. Crippling inefficiencies
Organisations, on average, still operate very inefficiently and lose value as a result of poor execution. Marakon Associates believe that organisations only realise 60% of the value of their strategy because of poor execution and breakdowns in planning. (Mankins & Steele, 2005).
4. Dysfunctional teams and the great divide
The basic idea behind organisations is that people with different skills and strengths collaborate to turn raw materials and resources into something with value. Remarkably then, it appears as if about 75% of cross-functional teams are deeply dysfunctional (Tabrizi, 2015).
5. The disengagement conundrum
Recent research published by Aon shows 35% of employees globally are disengaged, it is clear that we are still a long way from organisations that are purposeful, happy, engaging places for all or most of its employees.
Even though most organisations are falling short of their potential of being sustainable, high-performing, engaging, and thriving entities, we increasingly see the rise of organisations that successfully challenge the old paradigms of organisational structures and mindsets. Companies that are remarkably resilient, prosperous, trusted in the communities they operate in, and that do execute their strategies effectively. Organisations that have found new and innovative ways to collaborate and provide highly engaging experiences for all their employees.
These companies are showing us that there’s a better way which is a topic we are going to explore in much more depth in a series of future articles.
Stay tuned!
The Contribution DNA
Transform your business, your team, or your life by discovering and activating your Contribution DNA.
Let me ask you a question and I invite you to think deeply about the answer for a minute before you continue reading: In your heart, what is it that you – more than anything else – would like to be remembered for?”
”In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision” – The Dalai Lama
For some people, the answer is instantaneous and intuitive but for others, the answer might be less obvious and more challenging. It might be that you want to be remembered as a successful entrepreneur, a loving family member, an admired business leader, a successful writer, or something completely different. Whatever it might be, translating this aspiration into reality is not always easy. However, the question I would like to pose to you is; if success can be achieved with ease or; if it has to be gritty, a struggle, and hard work filled with sacrifices? It can absolutely be done with ease! We’ll get into ‘the how’ shortly but let’s start by decoding why achieving success is perceived to be so challenging.
It happens so that our relationship to perception actually sits at the core of the issue and more specifically, the way that we mistake perception for reality. Particularly in western cultures, we have embraced this unfortunate misconception that ‘perception is reality’. Even though the intentionality of the saying is good, it couldn’t be more incorrect, further from the truth, and outright unhelpful. Please write this down – [perception ≠ reality] perception is distinctly different from reality, period.
Our perception of reality is constantly tinted and filtered through the lens of our thoughts, beliefs, conclusions, values, and past experiences. Therefore, any experience is highly subjective to our interpretation of reality, rather than a direct experience of reality itself. Hence, our perception comes in the way of us seeing ourselves or others for who we/they truly are.
Now, this wouldn’t be so much of a challenge if it wasn’t for the biological and evolutionary wiring of our brain, or more specifically if it wasn’t for a very small, but highly impactful part of our brain – the Amygdala. The Amygdala is the oldest part of our brain (also referred to as the ‘Reptile Brain’) and is the part that controls our fight, flight or freeze response, helping us to stay safe and to stay alive. It teaches us, already at a young age, not take unnecessary risks and it ensures that we learn from bad experiences so that we don’t repeat them (for instance, putting your hand on a hotplate).
Even though the Amygdala is critical for our survival and safety, it was primarily designed to keep us safe back when we lived in caves, rather than to be an effective tool in today’s modern world. The Amygdala’s ‘operating system’ is highly outdated and in desperate need of an upgrade, much like software that hasn’t had any of its most critical updates for the last few hundred years. We live in a time, in a world and in an environment that is hugely different from that of our ancestors and we have evolved so rapidly that the oldest function of our brain basically hasn’t been able to keep up. So what, you might be thinking?!
The Negativity Bias
Well, in order to keep us safe, the Amygdala ensures that there is a disproportionate relationship between how we perceive, remember and relate to a positive versus a negative experience. We are hard-wired to be more sensitive to unpleasant experiences as they have more immediate implications for our safety and survival. Negative or unpleasant experiences are also immediately stored in our long-term memory whilst positive once are not.
This is all great news in terms of survival, but the less good news is that the amygdala can’t distinguish between what is a real threat to our survival or safety versus what might just be an unpleasant experience. This is why we sometimes find ourselves dwelling on a negative comment someone might have made of us ten years ago, or why we during a performance discussion only remember the ‘areas for improvement’ and not remembering the ten great things we’re doing right!
Recent research indicates that due to this disproportionate relationship, it actually takes five positive experiences to offset one negative – It’s known as the ‘Negativity Bias’. Hence, it’s not you, it’s biology – it’s simply the inner working of our mind!
So, the implication of the Negativity Bias is that we spend a lot of time doubting and second-guessing ourselves. Our self-talk is often a reflection of this dynamic as our ‘inner judge’ spends a lot of time commenting on past actions and worrying about the future. Now, this is not some cosmic conspiracy playing out, it’s just our brain trying to protect us from any potential and future ‘dangerous’ (negative) experiences. This inner conversation, or ‘Monkey Mind’ as it’s referred to in Buddhism, is the internal and constant mind chatter – it never stops and we all have it! (I bet your monkey mind is currently busy telling you that you don’t suffer from this….:)
Trouble at the Border
To make it even more challenging, the ‘Monkey Mind’ actually intensifies as we’re about to do something important – like give an important presentation, hold a speech, perform a concert, run a race, etc. We’re putting ourselves out there and the ‘Monkey Mind’ interprets this exposure as a threat as we become vulnerable to a potentially unpleasant experience. In an attempt to protect us, it swiftly initiates a process of outlining all the things that could go wrong and/or paints a vivid picture of the worst-case scenario, all with the best intention to keep us safe. Have you ever had a similar experience?
We call this ‘trouble at the border’ – we’re simply at the border between our dreams/goals and physical reality. It is at this exact point we often talk ourselves out of our dreams! We tell ourselves that it’s not the right time, that we don’t have the money or the resources, we distract ourselves, we procrastinate, and the list goes on. Now, I’m sure you yourself have never experienced any of this, but you might be able to think of someone that has:)
Incoherence
What tends to be the result of such an action or non-action? Well, often we create unnecessary frustration through not living our potential – for not living a life that is aligned with our purpose, dreams, and goals. Thus, we risk living life in incoherence and if this incoherence is ignored, it can over time lead to resentment or even resignation. A fascinating paradox is that often when the ‘Monkey Mind’ is extra loud, it’s actually a signpost that we’re up to something important rather than being a sign of real danger. As I described earlier, we are simply experiencing ‘trouble at the border’ and the key is to have enough awareness to see the difference (1) and enough resilience (2) to go ‘beyond the border’. Another paradox is that when we start to access and live our purpose (contribution) with more consistency and awareness, the Monkey Mind actually becomes quieter. So, now what?
Going ‘beyond the border’
Our inner conversation is never going to go away BUT the good news is that we can ‘reprogram’ our interpretation of what it actually means and redirect our focus towards actioning upon our contribution and purpose rather than listening to the conversations of our monkey mind. This is an exciting, highly rewarding and transformative experience.
“I always sensed a strong disconnect between how I was living my life and how I wanted to live it. I just did not know how to address the situation. Where do you even begin? Carl not only helped me clarify my why – my purpose – but has also helped me identify the actions I can take towards a life on my terms….” – A former coaching client
The core of all of this is that people are here to make a contribution, to make a difference that is sustainable. This contribution is distinctly different and unique for every individual and that’s why we call it the ‘Contribution DNA’. By clarifying our own ‘Contribution DNA’ and as we start to take coherent, small, sweet steps towards activating our contribution, we have begun a journey towards achieving success with more ease, joy, and focus – whatever success means to you!