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Home/Library/Leading
Whole-System Change
Leading
Whole-System Change
Authors: Kathleen Dannemiller
and Peter Norlin of Dannemiller Tyson Associates with Therese
Fitzpatrick, independent consultant.
Date: July 1, 2001
For the past thirty years, the
consultants at Dannemiller Tyson Associates have been inventing,
testing, and evolving our own processes of Whole-Scale, whole-system
changes. These processes are robust enough to respond to the
ever-changing landscapes that surround organizations today.
We believe this work is a leading edge of future OD interventions.
A primary underlying principle of our work is to involve everyone
in the organization in meaningful ways in the decisions that
will affect their future and the future success of the organization.
When a microcosm of the organization has a real say in their
individual and corporate future, the whole system begins to
evolve into a new dimension.
Leadership's New Role
Thanks to Meg Wheatley we have expanded our systems understanding
so that we now see a leadership mindset evolving that suggests
new "rules" to guide effective leading. We now know
that each organizational world is a living system, self-organizing
as all living systems do and the role of leaders in empowering
the self organization is not the same role they used to guide
classic bureaucratic ones.
Now let's talk about the shift
we see needed in the mindset of leaders:
Old Rule #1:
The leader's job is to know, and to serve as a final authority
in important decisions.
New Rule:
The leader's job (in the 21st Century) is to call people together
whom we have typically kept apart, and to find ways to uncover
and connect the collective wisdom of our people. When leaders
follow this rule, we've seen that this shared wisdom emerges
most effectively people are invited to come together and share
"one-brain, one heart." Here everyone in the organization,
through accepting each others' views, comes to see that we all
know the same thing ("one brain"), and we are all
connected around the same yearnings and vision of a preferred
future for the organization ("one heart").
Old Rule #2:
The leader's job is to control-information, people, risk, the
future. The effective leader is in charge of everything that's
going on, both inside and outside the organization. The leader's
job is to ensure that people in the organization obey the rules,
and people in the organization look to the leader to keep them
safe (e.g., "If I obey, then I'll have a job, and the company
will survive).
New Rule:
The leader's job is to ask questions and facilitate conversations
at ALL levels of the organization. An organization can achieve
its goals quickly and successfully only when people's energy
is aligned and their commitment is focused, and we believe that
this requires a leader to engage people at all levels of the
organization in connected discussion. Under the old rule, in
bureaucratic organizations people or teams are (unknowingly)
often working at cross-purposes from each other and cross-purposes
from their leader's plan for success. When this disconnection
occurs, it is a natural byproduct of individuals not havaing
shared understanding of what we all know. In most organizations,
people now ask, "How can I be part of a strong organizational
team when we live in different countries, work in different
time zones, operate at different levels of the organizational
structure, and, literally, live in different worlds?" When
a leader follows this new rule, and finds ways to get people
knowing and talking about the same things, all together, all
the time, they find creative ways to bring themselves into alignment.
Old Rule #3:
The leader's job is to drive and monitor organization performance
by focusing on what is going wrong, and punishing mistakes.
New Rule:
The leader's job is to build and sustain high performance by
noticing and appreciating when people do things right-especially
when they act with courage, integrity, and accountability. Reinforcing
courageous, right-minded action, especially when it turns out
to be a mistake, is the only way to encourage people to take
risks, and leaders who follow this rule typically build organizations
with spirit and pride.
When leaders are ready to live
the new rules,and are literally engaging with their organization
in newe ways` we have seen them guide their organizations successfully
through turbulent times, buoyed by the collective optimism,
boldness and courage of people who know that their wisdom and
competence is valued. Unleashing this kind of magic in an organization
requires, of course, that a leader demonstrate similar courage
and commitment. At the core of this shift in leadership mindset
is trust-trust in other people and trust in ourselves. When
we are willing to trust ourselves and others in these ways,
we will survive that old Chinese curse: "May you live in
interesting times!" In fact, the curse transforms itself
into a promise.
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DANNEMILLER TYSON ASSOCIATES:
is a virtual consulting company centered in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Dannemiller Tyson Associates specializes in rapid, significant
and lasting organizational change. We work from a Whole-ScaleŽ
perspective often involving hundreds of people simultaneously
in getting alignment on key issues. The results of this work
often pervade the entire organization at all levels. You can
contact us at www.dannemillertyson.com.
KATHLEEN D. DANNEMILLER
(Emeritus)
Kathleen Dannemiller is the founding partner in Dannemiller
Tyson Associates and co-inventor of Real Time Strategic Change
and Real-Time Work DesignŽ (now called Whole-ScaleŽ).
Kathie has been a passionate advocate of empowerment, systems
theory and whole system change for more than 30 year s. She
has been a consultant, coach and mentor to countless leaders,
consultants and organizations as they build a better future.
Kathie is recognized worldwide for her ability to move entire
organizations forward with speed, depth and spirit. Kathie is
a member of the National Training Laboratory and the National
Organization Development Network.
PETER NORLIN
Peter Norlin, Dannemiller Tyson Associates, has 25 years of
experience as both an internal and external consultant, focusing
on the development and integration of leaders and leadership;
partnerships, teamwork; and collaboration; and whole-system
change.
THERESE FITZPATRICK
Therese Fitzpatrick is an independent organization consultant
with 15 years legal and consulting experience in the East and
Midwest, currently living in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Dannemiller Tyson Associates are
authors of two new books: Whole-Scale Change: Unleashing the
Magic in Organizations and Whole-Scale Change: The Toolkit,
Berrrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 2000.
The fifteen partners of DTA worked
together to write these books. Using our own Whole Scale processes,
we worked as a community, one brain and one heart, to bring
our best wisdom to the content of these books.
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