Practicing Organization Development (A guide for Consultants) - Part 65 doc

Emergent Mindset The Industrial Mindset The Emergent Mindset “Reality as a Great Machine” “Reality as a Living System” Separate Parts Wholeness/Relationship Power and Control Co-Create

While attachment holds us locked into a belief, mindset provides the

opportu-nity to hold contradictions such as deficit- or strength-based beliefs or seeing

the glass as half-empty or half-full In The Change Leader’s Roadmap, Linda

Ackerman Anderson and Dean Anderson (2001) say, “The mindset of the leader has a major impact on the meaning made” of information contained in a busi-ness wake-up call In comparing the Industrial Mindset with the Emerging Mindset, we can imagine how a leader could miss clues provided in everyday incidences (See Table 26.1.)

Mindset colors the way that we approach information and relationships, which limits how to utilize our personhood as the instrument of change

Projection

Projection is actually “me” wrestling with “myself” or at least that part of myself

that I am noticing in another Projection is probably the most active element that stands in the way of accurate perception

An emotional reaction is usually a clue to a projection The emotion could

be attraction, curiosity, or wonderment, which is noticing what I like in myself

Or the emotion could be anger, dislike, distrust, or judgment, which is noticing

Table 26.1 Industrial Mindset vs Emergent Mindset

The Industrial Mindset The Emergent Mindset

“Reality as a Great Machine” “Reality as a Living System”

Separate Parts Wholeness/Relationship Power and Control Co-Create and Participate Certainty/Predictability Uncertainty/Probability Objective/Knowable Subjective/Mysterious Discrete Events Continuous Process

Order into Chaos Order out of Chaos External Causation Internal Causation

From The Change Leader’s Roadmap, by Linda Ackerman Anderson and Dean Anderson Published by

Pfeiffer, 2001 Used with permission.

in someone else what I don’t like in myself It does not matter what emotion shows up The point is to recognize that an emotional reaction is the greatest clue that a projection has been triggered The deep work is to understand the source of the projection The source of the projection could be an early child-hood relationship or incident, a trauma that is unresolved, or a significant event that has yet to be integrated When an emotion surfaces while working with a client, it is important to not disengage from the client in order to understand the projection or analyze the source If I am able to notice my “friend, the emo-tion,” I can form an agreement with myself that I will come back for self-study when I am not in service to the client This clears the boundary between my work and my clients so we can proceed in a healthy way

Knowing that an accurate perception is hindered by blocks, denial, attachment, mindset, and projection can provide a lifetime of self-study that may seem daunt-ing We have the gift of emotion that can act as our guide If we do not pay atten-tion to our emoatten-tions, we are at risk of losing our effectiveness with the client, family, or individual system Too much is at risk for us to be hiding from ourselves

DESCRIBE

Perceive and describe are two steps that are so close together that they may seem

inseparable, but they are distinct To perceive is to have consciousness of some-thing; to describe is to name what that something is (see Figure 26.3)

When we describe something, we bring language to a perception We may say, “I have an idea, my intuition is telling me, I am feeling an emotion—which

is .” Language is how we make sense out of the world

For some of us, our preference is to describe our perceptions using the lan-guage of the five senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and tasting For

others, there is a sixth sense, intuition An accurate understanding of our senses

comes from early childhood validation If I smell cinnamon but have been told that smell is nutmeg, I may learn that cinnamon is something that it is not The same is true of emotions If I learn that only little children cry and that, as an adult, it is not appropriate to cry, I will learn that crying is not an acceptable emotion to have and therefore will stuff that emotion rather than be unaccept-able If I learn that acknowledging fear will cause me to be called a “fraidy cat,” then I will find ways to deny my fears

The result of these confusing messages is that we are unable to describe accurately what is going on within ourselves We learn to distrust the language

of the emotions We therefore distrust our self-awareness I have this wonder-ful image of a canvas with a face outlined as a painting-by-numbers Part of the face is filled in with vibrant and accurate colors Part of the picture, yet to

be painted, is outlined according to the color that is to be applied “by the

numbers.” When I look at this picture, I see a partial picture and my imagina-tion is left to fill in the empty spots I could hope the rest of the picture will be like the “filled-in portion” or I could fear that the unpainted part is actually ugly

or representative of my undisclosed shadow This image helps me to understand the concept of “mask making” described by Tannenbaum and Eisen in the prior chapter For me, mask making is my way of putting on a particular face until I can find the language to describe what I am perceiving

The down side is that, while I am wearing this mask, I am certain that others experience me as not being authentic My tentativeness, caused by my effort to protect my self-image, gets in my way of relating to others If I cannot describe what is going on with myself, how can the client rely on me to describe what they are experiencing?

ACCEPT

After perceiving and describing, the third step in the active change model is to accept “what is for what it is.” When we are in acceptance, we are not arguing about whether or not something should have happened Acceptance also does not

mean I like or dislike it If I notice something, it will remain as it is, regardless of

(Touch)

(Intuition)

Taste See

Describe

Figure 26.3 Describing

whatever opinion I have about it The desired state would be unconditional accep-tance Getting in the way of unconditional acceptance are blame, shame, guilt, and judgment, which are responses that help me to remain the victim or to assume I am without power to make a change (see Figure 26.4)

Blame is where I make someone else wrong for what is going on with me.

The classical examples include: “This is the belief system I was raised with,”

“But this is just our corporate culture—I have to act this way to survive,” or

“Our company situation is the fault of the leadership team.” Blame is where I set up a reason or excuse that resides outside of me What a perfect way to avoid taking responsibility for my current state of being!

Shame is where I make myself wrong “I should have known better,” “If I

had only done things might be different,” “Wow, that was really stupid!”

Guilt is the state of holding onto the fact that I was wrong It is a way of

com-pounding the shame, giving it a much more lasting force We can hold onto guilt for ages as a way of holding ourselves in a pattern that we are just not ready to change yet

Judgment is what we are doing when we are not accepting Judgment is

where we insert the perception of right or wrong about something that already exists Judgment triggers a struggle for control, which can only be a temporary

Accept

Blame

Shame Guilt

Judgment

Figure 26.4 Accepting

state because the only thing we can realistically control is what is going on inside of ourselves

Acceptance helps us leave the state of reaction and come to a state of neu-trality and awareness so that we can make a choice to see the issue differently

or to re-start the same issue with a different approach Thus we are on the path

of active change.

QUESTION

It is our responsibility to discover for ourselves what might be getting in the way of a healthy interaction with others Being on a quest and asking good questions is a powerful skill we often practice with others We use questions to help others find themselves Questions open the door to possibilities With ques-tions, we can cultivate a greater awareness of a situation, become more creative

in developing choices, and avoid getting stuck asking the same questions over and over again and getting the same answers Questions help us reach the best action possible from the available known options

We can learn from the answers to our questions We can also learn from how

we formulate the questions and the impact they have on us We should notice that formulating questions actually helps us to listen, find deeper meaning, stim-ulate thinking, and inspire our personal development

On the road to becoming a “master question asker” are several paths to be aware of (see Figure 26.5):

The Problem

State of Being

Intuition

Timing

The Insight

Risk

Question

Figure 26.5 Questioning

• State of being: If we approach our issues as a curious and wondering

person, we are in a state of being where we consider ourselves a wise and valuable investment We want to learn about ourselves more than

we want to keep the status quo We have a way of “checking out” our assumptions Being in a creative state, the question becomes the begin-ning of creation

• The problem: Sometimes what appears to be the problem is actually a

symptom When the question is, “What is the solution?” we often miss the underlying possibility If I ask myself, “Do I set myself up for failure?”

I will get a yes-or-no answer However, if I ask, “How do I set myself up for failure?” I will get closer to the core of myself that I wish to explore

• The insight: By stating my own question and then really looking at it, I

can explore the energy behind the question, the awareness inspired by the question, and the assumptions within the question By consciously looking at how we are phrasing the questions to ourselves, we will be able to break beyond our perceptions of what is happening and gain insight into our personal state

• Timing: Bob Tannenbaum often told me that this is the trickiest part of

our own development Right timing of questions and self-reflection depends on our ability to be in “the here and now.” It is important to understand why we are asking ourselves a question, what we will do with the answer when it shows up, and whether we are willing and able

to take a risk with that answer When we decide that now is not the right time to be asking questions of ourselves, we are actually making a choice to take no action—at this time!

• Risk: Good questions will stir things up and can be painful to both ask

and answer Understanding that opening what has been covered up can

be the beginning of healing helps us to be courageous in asking ques-tions The question can be one that we have never asked ourselves before, challenges our expectations, or opens us to the unknown The challenge is to understand whether we are avoiding the risky questions out of habit, fear, blind spots, or assumptions

• Intuition: Every question is an experiment I have learned that if I try to

ignore a question that keeps coming back, my subconscious really wants me to explore this question This persistent question may be the doorway to a profound awareness in the hidden library of information residing within myself My use of curiosity and inner clues helps me to ask questions about what has been in my periphery

• Knowledge: If what I know about myself is limiting my capabilities, I

may want to find out more It is easy for OD practitioners to acknowl-edge there is theory or practice knowlacknowl-edge needing development It is

harder to acknowledge there may be something within myself I don’t understand or fully grasp If I can engage in friendly debate, talk to oth-ers with different views, read, or push my edges, I can encourage myself along the path of finding my own solutions, which will result in my par-ticipating in the development of me actively and consciously

ACT

This is where personal development efforts frequently fail Taking action means

I have to step forward, take a risk, assume a position, be open for failure, go into the unknown

We know when we ask questions, we will get answers The internal cycle would probably look like: We receive an answer to our question →The answer brings us a new revelation →The new revelation is a new perception →We describe it and accept it We ask a new question → A new question is an action → We start all over

Our response at each of stage will be based on personal choice and timing (See Figure 26.6.) There is a choice when we say: “I understand what I need to

Choice

Timing

Risk

Act

Figure 26.6 Acting

do but would like to do it later.” “I think I need to gather more data and to think about this more.” “I can see the steps that I need to take but will take them later.” “I am prepared to take action now.”

When we make a commitment to move forward based on what we know in the moment, we are practicing active change rather than being in reactive change and being in response from something outside of ourselves

CHANGE

For a change to be active, what is internal must be brought forward into phys-ical action before it can be complete Without the physphys-ical manifestation, we are only working with theory With a physical step, we can arrive at a new place and things look different to us The circumstances will be different We will be

in a new “here and now.” (See Figure 26.7.)

REPEATING THE PROCESS

The study of the self is the greatest and most difficult subject of all We are com-plex beings seeking to do comcom-plex human systems work in ever-changing con-ditions Our sharpness depends on our ability to be more fluid in our change

New Place

Different Circumstances

New

“Here” and “Now”

Change

Figure 26.7 Changing

With the “active change model,” it is possible to continue the process of explo-ration of “the self as the instrument of change” within our own timing and capa-bilities and work on developing that fluidity Our significance sometimes remains obscure until we embark on the journey of personal change Our sig-nificance then becomes that we are able to bring more of who we are into the work that we do and are thus more available to be of service to others

References

Ackerman Anderson, L., & Anderson, D (2001) The change leader’s roadmap: How to navigate your organization’s transformation San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Quade, K., & Brown, R., (2002) The conscious consultant: Mastering change from the inside out San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Practicing Internal OD

Allan Foss, David Lipsky, Allen Orr, Beverly Scott, Terrence Seamon, Julie Smendzuik-O’Brien, Anna Tavis,

Dale Wissman, and Catherine Woods

Many writers and experts in the field of OD have historically assumed that

practicing OD is similar for the internal OD practitioner and external OD practitioner Both internals and externals bring technical expertise, com-mitment to helping their clients, and a belief in the values and principles of the field However, the setting and environment of the practice as an employee of the organization creates different requirements, advantages, and challenges for the internal practice of OD

In this chapter we explore those differences, identify the advantages of inter-nal organization development, discuss the organizatiointer-nal context in which internal OD practitioners operate, consider competencies needed by the inter-nal practitioner, and offer distinctions between the practice and partnership of internal and external OD practitioners

The authors of this chapter either have been or are now internal practition-ers and bring their own experienced ppractition-erspectives to describe these differences However, to expand that perspective, twelve internal practitioners were inter-viewed for this chapter These internal OD practitioners serve in a range of industries: financial services, consumer goods, information technology and soft-ware, energy, higher education, transportation services, bio-genetics, telecom-munications, and government The questions used in the interviews appear in Exhibit 27.1

Organization development promotes the improvement, enhances the perfor-mance, and supports the integrated effectiveness of the whole organization 620