Observing and Adapting

Having presence and the capacity to observe yourself, helps you question your assumptions and interpretations.

In a VUCA World, the “command and control” (more stable) approach to leadership and change has to be balanced by an “observe and adapt” (more unstable) approach.  It’s increasingly difficult to see the patterns of interaction when there are many variables at play in a system. Until meaningful connections can be made, things feel like a mess. Opposing priorities shift inside your mind, conversations generate conflict and fake information comes at you thick and fast. 

Balancing Stable and Unstable Systems

It’s the instability and unpredictability of life that can lead to VUCA like situation. It depends on how you interpret what you observe. When you perceive instability it suggests a need for creativity. Where you then place your creative energy and attention will help take you back towards stability.  Life is about achieving a dynamic balance between two opposing states that is constantly changing. 

The tension between stability and instability exists everywhere and will vary depending on the issue, context or perspective being assessed.  Life can be seen as a self-organising and emergent process where the balancing process is played out. Politicians use these forces to divide and rule. They use propaganda to imply that their perspective is positive or “true” in an attempt to crush dissenting voices. The whole Brexit debate in the UK is an example of these tensions at play, as the people become desperate for stability when the process is creating more instability. You will notice that the headings on the left side of the diagram are dominant in this scenario.

To get a sense of this dynamic, choose an issue of concern to you or your team and then use the categories in the diagram below to assess where you see the balance between stability and instability.  What insights were revealed in your thinking that might guide your actions? 

Practice an Assessment

In an environment of continuous dynamic and complex change, the future is determined by what action is taken in-the-moment. It requires courage to commit to act, be clear what you care about and speak up for what makes sense to you.  The diagram below summarises an assessment process developed by Glenda Eoyang.

Identify a priority issue you want to focus on and ask:

WHAT are you sensing and paying attention to? What potential risks and benefits can you bring to mind?

• What could you improve on to be more inquisitive and open-minded?
• What insights feel the most relevant and achievable for what is needed?
• What could you direct your attention to look below the surface and beyond the obvious?
• What could connect your intentions with the concerns that others care about?
• What could stop you from making the changes you see are needed?

SO WHAT connections can you make sense of that could have a positive impact on results and avoid bias or unintended consequences?  

Reflect on the learning that arose from the questions above that could help you address the issue at hand.  Consider the impact of relationships with the “bigger system” in a creative and meaningful way. What are the operational and cultural constraints on potential actions?

NOW WHAT  are the best actions you can take now to generate more effective action?

Ask yourself which of the insights you could implement immediately that would have a positive impact on the issue at hand. When you reflect on the results that your actions generated the issues that need to be addressed will have shifted as the context and content inevitably changes. This takes you back to consider a new “what” and the cycle continues. 

For example, if your body is the “system in focus” and the air in the bigger system (your environment) is polluted, your lungs will struggle to cope. You would need to find new actions that could have a positive impact both inside and outside the “system in focus”. Urgent, flexible and adaptive action can then be taken when the interconnections between the systems are understood so the actions chosen are a fit for the task. When a change is made, a new set of relationships and conditions will emerge that will require another assessment. Continuous change requires continuous assessment and so the cycle continues.

Your Energy Producers

Continuous change requires access to multiple sources of energy. In addition to the physical, mental and emotional energy needed to produce your “inside-out” energy, you can tap into the energy provided by other people’s ideas, as “bottom-up” energy. New energy can be generated by an authority with the power to command compliance by applying “top-down” energy or by events occurring in the environment that generates “outside-in” energy.

Discover more about these Energy Producers.

It is the power of your “observer” that enables you to see how these energy sources combine when seen from different perspectives and from a different system in focus. The diagram below reflects how your nervous system works to connect your observations of events both inside and outside your body that are combined within a given context (system in focus) and get aligned in relationship with others.

For example, you have an idea ( your “I” space) that you share with others who can care about what you care about (your “WE” space). There will be rules that impose limitations on what you can do (your “ITS” space) and when you look to opportunities in your environment for trade-offs to make it happen (your “IT” space).

Being mindful of your whole experience enables you to become aware of your way of seeing, being and doing that gets you connected with what your senses are telling you. This becomes an invaluable source of wisdom that you can call on to cut through the pressures of life and leadership presented by a VUCA World.

Focusing your Attention

You pick an object or subject to focus your attention Your mind tunes in and brings selected experiences and stories from your memory to produce a Way of Being in that moment.  This Way of Being generates the language you choose, the mood you adopt, the feelings you experience in your body and the relationships that make sense to you.

Your mind tries to sort out the distractions, desires and doubts in order to predict what you should think and do next. The mind can get overloaded and generate feelings of stress. The result is a lack of clarity. If you are aware of this happening you can choose, not to react to the inner chatter and sensations by quietening the mind to focus your attention on one thing. For example, just noticing your breathing is a useful starting point to relax the body and allow your inner wisdom to take over.

This calm state will help restore a healthier and less judgemental relationship with yourself and your world. You will begin to feel less isolated from your body and other people, as you access a more intuitive and insightful state of mind. This has the effect of opening your mind to explore new opportunities and sources of energy to embrace the uncertainties that might keep you stuck in your comfort zone. 

“Of what use is it that we travel to the Moon if we can’t cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves”?  – Thomas Merton

Your Next Step

Life Leadership Courses will introduce you to the power of your observer and adaptive action. You will learn how to deal with disruptive emotions and the thoughts that drive them. The exercises will help you to manage your limiting beliefs and generate new realisations that will challenge the assumptions and beliefs you act from.