About Change

Change is a natural part of life in organizations and communities--if not already happening within them, it is happening outside of them.   Being agile in understanding or creating change is where competitive advantage is born.  To be agile is to be quick, adaptable, resourceful and graceful.  Some critical dimensions to successfully realize change include the following: (see an expanatory figure at http://www.curvedroad.com/ on the "About" page)

• Awareness

   Be Aware of your environment and resources.

• Results

   Look for stakeholder Gain.

• Focus

   Be Intentional in your activities.

• Energy

   Think and promote Life-Affirming approaches.

• Participation

   Support and facilitate people's choice to be Engaged.

Where are you on these dimensions?  What steps will you take to create AGILE Change in your organization or community?

Dialogue and the Agony of Creation

Sometimes in the middle of a workout, I think I want to stop and call it a day.  I don’t because of the payoffs I know will come based on experience.  “No pain, no gain” comes to mind and I persevere.  The agony (sometimes) of creating new muscles and losing pounds of fat is a price to be paid for the results I value.  

When we understand in advance some of the challenges that may come in any activity we engage in, this preparation can help us to meet them and move ahead.

Psychologist Bruce Tuckman proposed stages in the group process (Forming. Storming, Norming and Performing and Adjourning) that have helped countless group leaders and participants prepare some of the challenges a team faces.  Recognizing the challenges in successfully getting a group together to accomplish a goal makes it easier to be patient with the rhythm of groups.  Sometimes groups retreat to the norming stage for fear of potential conflict and this can limit their creativity (“no pain, no gain”). 

We also know in practicing Dialogue that you can anticipate and prepare for some of the challenges in this kind of conversation. One of my favorite books on the subject is Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together by William Isaacs.  The book is introduced by Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline and one of the authors of The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook which also include helpful material about Dialogue.

With an understanding of basic ground rules, patience and a willingness to persevere Dialogue can help unleash creativity and stimulate action that matters.