Navigating the Future with
Agility & Resilience
A framework for understanding and communicating the cultural shifts that are driving today's today's thriving organizations even amidst COVID-19.
The journey ahead for businesses and other inspired, dynamic value-producing organizations calls for an all heads-/hands-/hearts-on-deck approach to reigniting curiosity and rediscovering creativity as we co-create new, more conscious and mindful work cultures and communities for the increasingly complex challenges we face in this Age of Accelerations.
Businesses, as today's most powerful platforms for change, will play an outsized
role in addressing the multifaceted global challenges of the 21st century.
But we will first need to shed the traditional, command-and-control, hierarchical, inwardly focused organizational operating systems rooted in short-termism, positional authority, 'cultures of personality,' and 'ego-limited thinking' and internalize the ‘eco-vitalized being’ of engaged, networked, outwardly directed organizational 'cultures of character' that are leading the way in novel solutions and new value creation for multiple, diverse stakeholders.
The 6 C's
Curiosity
from
static knowing
to
dynamic learning
Continuously asking powerful questions from a mindset of genuine intellectual humility and wonder yields greater insights and innovation, improves employee engagement and collaboration, and ensures greater organizational adaptability, resilience, and effectiveness.
Connection
from
extrinsic rewards
to
intrinsic motivation
Organizations thrive when they tap into the powerful human desire for meaningful work
(connection to purpose) and meaningful relationships (connection to people) and when they honor the natural human preference for relative autonomy in the pursuit of mastery of craft.
Co-Creation
from
efficient cooperation
to
creative collaboration
Innovation, new value creation, and process improvements occur more rapidly when ideas are freely generated, shared, and blended across specialties and org levels than when they are directed from fixed positions of authority (e.g., jazz ensembles tend to out-innovate marching bands).
Community
from
power hierarchies
to
wisdom networks
Co=creative, distributed, and local 'tribal' leadership—as a balanced blend of masculine and feminine leadership styles that value compassion (open heart), collaboration (open mind), and courage (open vision)—outperforms and outlasts modes of influence based on hierarchical positions of status and authority.
Culture
from
maximizing for profit
to
optimizing for well-being
Challenge of 21st century is to meet needs of all within sustainable means of the planet and human well-being. It requires a shift from valuing GDP growth and 'financial capital' maximums to valuing balanced growth that respects human well-being and 'natural capital' optimums; from valuing reckless short-term clever strategies to valuing restrained long-term wisdom.
Character
from
ego-limited thinking
to
eco-vitalized being
Ego-transcendending consciousness and mindfulness of the interrelatedness and interdependence of all ('eco'-system) stakeholders (including local community, environment, and future generations) ultimately results in heightened energy, impact, creativity, and reward. Principles over profits. We over me.
Why should we care?
Rise of cloud-based technologies and AI enhanced products and services ~ Job - Eliminating Automation ~ continued evolution in economic growth opportunities from commodities to products to services to 'experiences' ~ rising education levels in workforce ~ greater proportion of women and millennials in workforce ~ shifting notions of career 'success' ~ greater emphasis on work/life balance ~ rise of self-identified 'conscious' businesses ~ emergence and rapid spread of 'business agility' practices (from early successes of 'Agile' software development processes) ~ effectiveness of cross-functional, loosely-coupled, self-organizing teams ~ growing Interest in wellness ~ benefits of mindfulness and meditation practices ~ shift in global economic goals from 'GDP growth' to 'sustainable well-being'
Powerful Questions
-
How will leaders inform and inspire the cultures of curiosity and intellectual humility, connection to higher purpose, and co-creative work modes needed to help their organizations manifest their unique visions?
-
How can today's large, mature organizations make successful transformations from slow, static 'industrial' models designed for maximizing predictability and efficient cooperation to dynamic, iterative, fail-fast, 'startup factory' cultures that optimize for innovation and creative collaboration?
-
How do we build stronger and deeper connections—to each other and to our own deeper aspirations for more engaging work, more enriching relationships, and more purposeful lives?
-
What ideas, conversations, coaching practices, training techniques, games, and group activities work best to develop and expand personal and organizational agility, creativity, resilience, and new value creation?