Dynamic Change ?

"Creators live simultaneously in many universes.  Each universe has its own set of governing principles. When a creator performs a creative act, many separate and distinct universes suddenly converge in perfect alignment."  Robert Fritz  

Tools for Dynamic Change can be found in the 'Change Tools' Menu 

The forces for change are not simple chains of cause and effect, indeed they are chaotic and unpredictable. If change is a natural and complex process then all we can reasonably do is create the conditions that will induce the change we are after and build the capacity of individuals and organisations to make it happen in a purposeful way. The key to this is an ability to think systemically and engage in conversations that explore moral and spiritual purposes.

This position has been taken by people such as Peter Senge, Michael Fullen, Peter Block, Harrison Owen, Margaret Wheatley, Fritjof Capra, Tom Peters and Howard Gardner. They are all agreed that leaders of learning and change must be experts in the dynamics of change if they are to become Real Change Leaders. The leader's task is to help people reconcile the tensions between chaos and order, both in their own minds (inside-v-outside) and in the relationships between them and us (top-v -bottom).

Dynamic complexity is therefore the real territory of change. Leaders must look for the underlying patterns of thinking and behaviour that influence their choices - choices that have to be made in the moment. Change is no longer a journey through time, but the act of bringing the future into the present. The challenge is how to "pay attention to your intention" - one of Deepak Chopra's "seven spiritual laws of success".

Making change happen it seems is as much an emotional as a rational issue. Peter Senge reminds us that a high dgree of emotional involvement is required to create the results that people genuinely desire. How information, emotional energy, relationships and communication issues combine to produce a passionate response does enable change to happen in complex situations.

The commitment to change can be seen as individual or a collective decision. A clearly defined vision from the top has to be activated by people at the bottom. The more input people have into defining the changes that will affect their work, the more ownership they will have for the results. Changing the invididual is about changing the system. It is the intrinsic rewards that people get that is empowering to them.

We are entering an age when the pace of change is increasing exponentially.  Both individuals and organisations are seeking to create and combine new  'visions', 'capabilities', 'environments' and 'cultures' in a balanced way. Leaders of change are learning how to live in this zone of dynamic change.  To get a grip on the complexity that balancing just these four major sources of energy involves, Steve has drawn on his 30 years experience as a change agent in different roles to share his own Dynamic Change Model outlined below.

Achieving real change therefore, requires the integration of these two dynamics, the organisational (vertical) and the personal (horizontal). I have broken them down into four dimensions to help make sense of the contradictions and ambiguities that might give the impression of chaos. For example, a client of mine who is a Headteacher explained the emotional turmoil that she and the whole school had experienced over many years because a disturbed child could not be given the special help they clearly needed. No amount of rational argument it seemed would make the LEA change its mind Not until the school staff were eventually being physically abused and emotionally distressed, and after the child had been excluded for the third time, did the LEA relent and take the appropriate action. Calm, rational argument is often not enough. There has to be chaos before the new order can emerge.

Personal and Organisational Dynamics

You will sense an 'us v them' theme at play here, which impacts on your identity as an individual and as the member of a group. This is complex because you can belong to a number of groups at the same time and the change may split your loyalties. Personal power too presents problems depending on whether you look inside or outside yourself to achieve change.

The patterns that emerge through the actions we take NOW to make the changes we desire happen, may be the result of an intention, but the process is unknowable because the interrelationships produce unpredictable consequences and the change is only seen in snapshots in time, with its ultimate effects unknown..

The Vertical (Organisational) Dynamic
collectivism

WE do not live in isolation, WE need to collaborate with others to achieve what WE want as a community or team. WE have to appreciate and tap into the tension between our diverse needs and our common interests as a group (bottom-up forces).

This is in contrast to what our bosses want - the people who seek to direct our energy. THEY control our access to resources and expect our compliance to secure economies of scale and implement business plans. THEY represent a higher power to which we are expected to aspire (top-down forces).

"Individualism and collectivism must have equal power.... both top-down and bottom-up strategies are necessary....the best organisations learn externally as well as internally. Change is too important to leave to experts, everybody must be coached to achieve personal mastery."
Michael Fullen 'Change Forces' 2000

"We should concentrate on liberating leadership from the bottom-up. Change driven from the top-down limits innovation. Much of the wisdom in an organisation is held with those delivering frontline services. Hierarchies produce compliance, but leadership from the bottom, with encouragement from the top, will, I believe, deliver transformational change."
Andrew Foster - NHS - HR Director 2003

The Horizontal (Personal) Dynamic
individualism

When YOU think about it, most of the changes YOU make in life are to get where YOU want to go - what really matters to YOU and how YOU feel about the change. Your actions and capabilities will inevitably support your intentions (inside-out forces).

In a highly connected world this will only be partially successful, simply because you must serve the interests of someone else in order to thrive. THEY want you to satisfy their needs in ways THEY find suits them best. THEY expect good service and for you to be selfless in your commitment to their interests (outside-in forces).

"Our performance is highly influenced by our self-awareness and our ability to understand our own behaviour and how it impacts on others. This offers us wider choices in the way we interact with and manage others performance. Research now shows that increasing the levels of emotional intelligence is a sound way to increase growth. it involves the ability to monitor ones own and others' feelings and emotions.
Salovey & Mayer 1990

Leading Dynamic Change

If you believe, as I do, that leadership is a collection of behaviouyrs linked to a given combination of spiritual archetypes, than everyone can display leadership behaviours, but only a few will have what it takes to get others to follow them in large numbers. When these factors combine in a fertile situation things do change - and fast. Understanding the conetext and identifying the potential for change is a core skill for Real Change Leaders.

"We all have strong values about doing work that has meaning (inside-out), being of real service to our customers (outside-in), treating other people well (bottom-up) and maintaining intergrity in the way work gets done (top-down)." Peter Block

To achieve real change therefore, we need to learn how to go with the forces that are hidden in the complex connections that make each situation unique in time and space. If we can free ourselves of the baggage that constrains our thinking, then anything is possible. Just do it and you will find out.

The power of now
The challenge of real change is finding the will to tackle it now, as well as the energy, information and intelligence needed to address it in different ways. It's about removing your fear of ambiguity and the anxiety caused by uncertainty. There are no guarantees that the changes will lead to an improvement of course, but you can make change happen by thinking through what it is that needs to be done now. Good project management relies on these skills. The intelligence comes from viewing change from all four energy sources.

The best leaders understand dynamic change. Sir John Harvey-Jones, 'Manager of the Millenium' was adamant in a recent article that ...

"successful change in business is about getting the balance right. You have to get your troops together (bottom-up energy) and face them in the right direction (top-down energy). You must grab their imagination (inside-out energy) to ensure that your customers get what they want (outside-in energy)".

It appears that when the energy for change is coming from all four directions it is possible to align the change forces to secure real, sustainable change. That's why Real Change Leaders need to understand the dynamics of change.

Be a paradox buster
Paradox it seems is an integral part of dynamic change. Natural leaders seem to know intuitively how to design and plan for change, while at the same time allowing uncertainty and learning to unfold naturally. They see threats as opportunities, value individual contributions as well as group achievements, are both externally responsive and internally coherent, and know when to fit and when to fix.

Paradox serves our need for understanding because it affirms that it is possible for two opposing sides to be right and true at the same time. They are both mutually exclusive and intimately linked. Reality is mind created and we all life in different realities. The most profound of these dynamic tensions exist beteen individual and collective interests. You can't have organisational learning without individual learning, both are needed to enrich complex learning processes. Both contribute to a sense of wholeness and greater effectiveness. Below is an example of mechanistic (hierachical) versus systemic (networked) thinking.

Top-down driven change initiatives fail when they do not have enough respect for personal visions as a source of energy for change (you can't mandate what matters). Politicians are impatient for change and therefore overcontrol the change processes. Control from the top is an illusion anyway as Peter Senge explains...

"While traditional organisations require management systems to control people's behaviour, learning organisations invest in improving the quality of thinking, the capacity for reflection and team learning and the ability to develop shared visions and shared understandings of complex issues. They are then able to establish self-managed local control of themselves."
Peter Senge

Challenging received wisdom
In their book RELAX it's only uncertainty, Philip Hodgson and Randall White, explore the issues that living with ambiguity presents. For example, all of us have been led to believe that we can:

• predict the consequences of our actions;
• control our choices;
• measure anything of importance;
• improve performance by setting targets; and
• use words that mean the same to everyone.

These are all illusions created by the mind. Leading real change is helped by challenging received wisdom, understanding the dynamics in each situation and dealing with the dilemmas they generate. The leader must have a positive attitude to all that is uncertain in order to retain the positive energy needed to encourage others to search for new possibilities. This inevitably involves changing mindsets.

"The ultimate and largely ignored task of leaders is one of creating and breaking mindsets . . . the trouble is that 99% of managerial attention is devoted to techniques that squeeze more amd more out of the existing mindsets - and its killing us."
Richard Pascale

Leadership is everyone's concern and responsibility
Leaders in the past were able to hide behind the illusion of predictable change, but no longer. The uncertainties that leaders face today are clear for everyone to see. Leadership is no longer the preserve of the few, it is now real enough to be everyone's concern and responsibility, whether they have a formal leadership position or not. Smart leaders realise they need followers to use their intelligence, to be good at reading patterns of behaviour and intensity of feeling.

Leadership in a complex system where everything is connected and co-evolving presents new challenges for organisations and teams. Leadership emerges from a particular theory about life that produces unique thinking and distinctive actions.Problems arise when the learning, developing and integrating time taken by the leader are denied those who have to impliment the decision. Hardly surprising that such leaders who have the courage of their convictions feel as if they are "alone" and instantly face resistance. It's as if the organisation's immune system kicks in.

Leadership is more effective when it is exhibited by people scattered throughout the organisation or team. in 2006 Birmingham City Council implemented what it called a BEST Leaders initiative, training over a thousand team leaders from strategic directors to frontline supervisors in how to create meaningful conversations around belief, excellence, success and trust. This spawned hundreds of new initiatives that were owned and supported by those doing the work. This energised change from the bottom-up without threatening the strategic plans of those at the top.

Transformative Action
Of course, change can be motivated by an inspiring vision, but it is sustained through regular, meaningful conversation. It's about what you choose to focus on and what your organisation expects of you. For example, I use dynamic inquiry to help clients balance their emotional and spiritual needs with the rational and strategic change required by their organisation's.

It's about what you do now to create a future that you and others want to happen.

Transformational change needs transformational leadership at all levels and locations if it is to be radical and rapid. In other words it cannot be achieved doing more of same, a shared vision of a preferred future must capture the hearts as well as the minds of followers. The difficulty many leaders have is their ability to lead by example. It's how the new values are lived that matters to those who are assessing the seriousness of the declaration. Personal and organisational transformation have to go together.

"Transformation does not occur from the top-down, or the bottom-up. It is from the inside-out." Michael D. McMaster.

What I have learned is that change is relaxed and effortless for those individuals, teams and organisations with an appreciation of uncertainty and an understanding of how the dynamics of change interact.

In this website I share my insights, experiences and an understanding of change as it happens in different contexts. It also provides some alternative perspectives and challenges to your thinking to help you lead real change initiatives.

Behavioural Dynamics

Ken Blanchard describes the seven behaviours of inside-out change as:

(1) Change causes unease and awkwardness untill new behaviours are learned.

(2) Change creates feelings of loss and frustration

(3) Change generates feelings of isolation and insecurity

(4) Change is best achieved in small chunks

(5) Change either excites or threatens, so give people enough time and space to 'buy-in' to what's expected

(6) Change takes time and effort, to learn and adjust to new demands

(7) Change is a serious business and the role of the leader is to keep the pressure on doing things in a new way.

Personal Transformation 

Real change requires leadership that seeks to balance the four dimensions of change. For example, once the cultural reality is known (bottom-up) and the demands coming from the environment (outside-in) are clear, the task then is to align the organisation's vision (top-down) with
the capabilities and dreams of the people involved (inside-out).

Top-Down Change - What change is expected of me ?

This dynamic seeks to bend you to the will of those who have power over you. They are often your paymasters, partners or parents. This force for change exerts control over what you do and how you do it. Those with the power often believe they can secure change simply by demanding compliance, and focusing your energy on their vision. The resulting change is influenced by a desire to feel appreciated and secure, and is fostered through conversations with such people as bosses, educators and inspectors.

Bottom-Up Change - Who can stop the change or help it along ?

This dynamic aligns you to the priorities and needs of those around you, the people you interact with and get energised by on a daily basis. They might be your neigbours, friends or work colleagues. They exert an influence over your thinking and behaviour by tapping into your need to belong and feel valued as a person. The resulting change is driven by trust, mutual self-interest and the absence of fear. It is influenced by the conversations you have with your peers.

Outside-In Change - What will others think about the change ?

This dynamic challenges you to consider with whom you want to be actively engaged and why. What do they want from you? Will you have to adapt your desires and behaviours to feel secure or approved of ? This change is driven by events that occur outside ourselves and beyond our immediate control. The resulting change is influenced and energised by conversations with customers or service partners, government agencies and informal associations.

Inside-Out Change - Why do I need to change ?

This dynamic leads you to question your very identity - who you are and what really matters to you. What is it you want to become? The force for change comes from the natural energy you generate inside yourself - your passions and dreams. The resulting change is driven by your personal archetypes and intentions. This is the most powerful form of change energy because it can shift your perception of what is postive and beneficial. It is influenced by the deeper conversations you have with yourself and those you confide in.

Our understanding of what it means to put people at the heart of change is still in its infancy. Change unnerves us because we have to embrace uncertainty and unpredictable reactions.  Because it's messy and frightening we often try and manage it too tightly. The Oxford Business School points to the transformation cycle getting shorter, now every three years and getting shorter each year.Leaders of change are looking to large scale interventions that get the whole 'system' (organisation and key stakeholders) in one room over a few days. Rsearch shows that there are three key factors in achieving sustauinable change.  Full participation in the change process, having change chamopions to act as 'trim tabs' and distributed leadersship operating in multi-agency/multi-disciplinary teams (real and virtual). The energy source that levers and delivers real changes in performance are changes made from the inside-out, shifting attitudes and behaviour.Top-down management must not be allowed to get in the way of 'bottom-up' interactions and creativity between the agents of change.

Changing the culture requires leaders to look from the outside-in and see their organisation or lives as other people see them and looking from the inside-out as creative observers with emotional and spiritual sttrenths. Asking challenging questions, such as - What do we want to have happen or to achieve ? requires courage and a desire to embrace the unknown, face facts and explore possibilities.

There is a growing consensus among change consultants and coaches that individuals and organisations are capable of transformation when all four dimensions of change are addressed together, as one impacts on the other either positively or negatively. Creating a vision (top-down energy) should come first so that the focus of attention is on new results, not analysing old problems. This is then tempered by a cl;ear and hoinest assessment of reality that is the environment (outside-in energy) that offers infinite possibilities and potental for delivering the vision. Nothing is achieved alone, we rely on the support, cooperation, actions and cultural values of the team/group (bottom-up energy) to interact in support of the vision and find a way round any constraints that might stop the vision being realised. Bu the most important and critical source of energy for change is the motivation, talent, skill, commitment etc., that every individual must find to enhance there capability (inside-out energy) to take the decisions and actions necessary to bing the vision to life.  The key to sustainable change is new behaviour, which aligns the culture to align itslf with the demands and resources coming from the environment that are aligned to deliver the vision.    

David Cooperrider in his approach to Appreciative Inquiry argues that change is rooted in the positive energy drawn from all the connections and relationshoips involved. Clearly these relationships are dynamic in that there is no one point at which a static balance is achieved as living things are in a constant state of flux.  This interactive process feeds on itself until it reaches what Gladwell calls a 'tipping point' where all the forces for change are flowing and contributing to making the change happen.  There is less stress and tension in the system, there is oincreases satisfaction and trust in relationships producing high levels of motivation to outperform previous expectations.

Adopting a dynamic perspective on change fits with what is observed by the new sciences of quantum physics, neuro-biology, cognitive biology and the complexity sciences.  Margaret Wheatley observed the natural and organic world to understand the role of chaos in creating a new order. Real change is more like an improvised drama than a scripted play that takes on the form of a loose network of interconnections than a linear sequence of events. Its more spontaneous than routinised and shaped by creativity and innovation than compliance in a controlled environment.  

Personal Acknowledgements

I have been a student of complex adaptive systems for over ten years and have applied its ideas and metaphors in my work. See my article on Succeeding through Self-Organisation published in 1996 by the Local Government Management Board.

My take on the dynamics of change hit me when reflecting on my varied experiences. I was brought up in an age when service to your community was a much stronger ethic than it is today. I experienced what it's like to be a Head Chorister, a VSO in the Solomon Islands, a conductor of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, musically directing a production of The Mikado, hosting a visit by the Queen to Livingston in Scotland during her Jubilee year. All these opportunities came unexpetedly through people who I considered to be 'dynamic'. They were people who excited and encouraged me to break out of my 'comfort zone' and enter the 'change zone' with confidence. The ultimate prize was discovering my real self through my relationship with others.

People who believed in me

I would like to acknowledge the contribution of my parents who encouraged and supported me to see life beyond a council estate. David Hall my art teacher, Sam Jones my choir master and lifelong friends Brian and Sheila Hazelhurst who believed I had talent. Mike Foster my maths teacher who gave me a love of learning. Walter Johnston and Brian Fisher for introducing me to the spiritual dimensions of life, and Mervyn Hudson for a rational and more scientific perspective. John Cheshire and Hugh Carey for their inspiration that anything is possible and Betty Naismith for keeping my feet firmly on the ground. But there are four people who deserve a special mention because they developed my understanding of dynamic change.

People who influenced my thinking

In the 1970's I had the privilege of working with Leslie Higgs OBE, a leading light in the New Towns movement. He was a Housing Manager of the 'old school', a servant leader. His constant cry was to "find out what the tenants want - your only concern should be to serve them". Leslie gave me insights into the importance of outside-in change, of listening to and learning from the customer. Unfortunately he is no longer with us.

In the 1980's I met Barry Cooper who was my mentor for nearly twenty years. He encouraged me to question the way things really are and how they could be changed by thinking like an innovator. He used to say "Don't solve problems - create new solutions". He helped me to find my  door into the "secret garden". His background in transport planning introduced me to the work of cyberneticist Stafford Beer. He helped me get a handle on Structural Dynamics and the bottom-up dimension of change.  He was great thinker and champion of community sustainability. He is now retired.

In the early 1990's I worked with Arthur Battram to produce a guide to complex adaptive systems, called Navigating Complexity subsequently published by The Industrial Society in 1996 - ISBN 1-85835-899-X. I owe a great debt to Arthur who was my mentor for many years and helped me grapple with the inside-out dimensions of change.  He is now a international consultant.

In the late 1990's I worked with Birmingham City Council as an Organiosation Development Consultant and discovered the dominance and power of top-down change processes as well as their limitations. It was an invaluable learning experience. Paradoxically, it helped me understand the importance of balancing the four dimensions of dynamic change outlined above by transforing the way people think about and how they create change. The Change Zone is the result.