New Ways of "Seeing"

Attractors
The Info-letter of the
Human Systems Dynamics Institute
Volume 6.6
June 2009

In this month’s Attractors, Glenda Eoyang, Ph.D., shares her real-time experience at Shambhala Institute, where she is facilitating a module this week. We invite you to discuss this topic. Please share your thoughts and insights with us as we continue to hear from Glenda throughout the week.

I am spending this week at the Shambhala Institute in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I pause tonight, in the middle of this complex and ever-changing white water rafting trip, to reflect on what I am learning and how it might inform me, my colleagues, and our various institutions and communities.

When I arrived, the first question was, “What is your question?” I often begin training sessions in the same way, and standing on the other side, I gained new appreciation for the challenge this poses for my students. My response, inspired by my friend Wendy Morris who was inspired by her friend Arawana Hayashi:

How can I see with my back?

This question enfolded a whole range of notions about me, my world, my practice, and gaps in all of them that need filling. I want to know how I can:

• Anticipate the future, which I cannot see, while my past lies so plainly in my front-focused view.
• Stimulate my capacity to perceive things that lie beyond my current perspective.
• Be aware of the world that surrounds me—360 by 360 degrees.
• Develop connections with what lies beyond my own habitual blindness.
• Lead into the future, being sensitive to the needs and resources of those who follow.

On Saturday morning, it seemed an impossible quest, but it also carried a sense of urgency for me and those I serve. We all face greater and greater challenges as our worlds transform around us. To survive we will need profound flexibility of thought and action. To thrive, we will have to cultivate new and more sensitive ways to see what was invisible before. We need the support of all of our faculties at their highest level of performance if we are to succeed in the uncertain, but certainly turbulent, future. Though my quest is far from complete, I have begun to see how I might turn my back into a sensing organ.

I have learned that boredom can be a gateway to innovation. When the repetition of thought or action is unbearable, then someone somewhere does something exciting. If we can learn patience and focus, our systems may generate their own creative phase shifts.

I have learned what it feels like for sound to come into and through my whole body. When my eyes are closed, my mind is quiet, and my body is attuned, I feel the vibrations of sound and distinguish them from “noise.” If my teams can listen in this way, we may build the capacity to adapt more adroitly.

I have learned that creative process can be a bridge between thought and action. When I practice noticing, deciding, and acting in the context of jazz or improvisation or dance or calligraphy, I build capacity to notice, decide, and act in response to real-world situations. Each of my actions takes on more natural grace and accuracy.

I have learned to trust in the teaching/learning expertise of others, even when my own intuitions are challenged. When I let go of my expectations and assumptions and follow another’s process to completion, both the journey and the outcome can be gloriously rewarding. Seeing with my back is transformed into seeing through her front.

I have learned that some people learn in action, not just from the metaphors that mimic action. My knowing is stored in words, but some others store knowing in sense and sinew. For them, teaching and learning come alive in action at a particular place and in a particular time.

I have learned that when people talk about “energy,” “field,” and “gestalt,” they are talking about what we call “pattern.” We name and operationalize the concept in different ways to make it actionable, depending on how we understand our capacities to act.

I have learned how phenomenology can be a sensual experience.
I have learned some really good philosophical jokes.
I have learned that listening can be a meditative practice.
I have learned that if I loan my (often forgotten and unused) camera I get great pictures and a new friend.
I have learned that I can speak slowly and still express my overwhelming enthusiasm for human systems dynamics.
I have learned new things about the wisdom of youth and the exuberance of age.
I have learned that I can hear the music of self-organizing processes, even when a group works in silence.
I have learned that in at least one language, kids are referred to as “the ones I live for.”

And this is only Tuesday!

As all good questions do, this one has transformed itself even before it is completely answered. Today, a new question emerges:

Would you like to see with your back?

If so, join me in this discussion as I move forward into this question.

Glenda H. Eoyang, Ph.D.
www.hsdinstitute.org
866-HSD-INST

Patterns

John Eoyang
Born: December 7, 1929, London, England
Died: May 10, 2009, Maplewood, Minnesota, US

It is about patterns—Similarities, differences, and relationships that have meaning across space and time.

When John and I met 32 years ago next month, we came from radically different worlds. His, cosmopolitan and musical. Mine, rural and philosophical. In a chance conversation about Pascal’s Pensees, we found a shared pattern that caught our attentions and, ultimately, our hearts.

As our passion deepened, we drew our families into the emerging pattern. Megan came to color Easter eggs. Loren let me play Mother of the Bride. Ruth gracefully accepted the little orange owl and laughed at all John’s jokes. Peggy said, “I’m glad he has you," and I replied, "I’m glad he had you.” Siblings and in-laws opened hearts and minds and homes to embrace the pair that we were becoming.

Friends, too, (at least most of them) found ways to fold the John/Glenda pattern into their own. Each of our communities was a complex tapestry accumulated over decades and continents.

Robert and Kat were John’s adopted grad school parents—half his age, but his equal in curiosity and generosity. My Johnnie friends came to visit. Chicago and Canyon. Mike and Tom. Red cooked hocks and a can of English peas. His clean kitchen and my messy office. Similarities made it seem safe and familiar and easy. Differences kept it stimulating, rich, irritating, and fun. Relationships held us together with each other and with all the other people and institutions that defined who we were as individuals and knitted us together as a family.

Our libraries told many stories about who we were, what we knew, and who we admired in the past, present, and future. The redundancies and wild diversity of our books reflected the paths that each of us had traveled. Merging lives was much more difficult than alphabetizing by author, though. There was no Dewey Decimal System for deciding what stayed and what went and how the collection came together. The process allowed, even required, innumerable conversations about what mattered and what didn’t to him and me and us together.

John had a way of shifting others’ patterns. Our friend Elizabeth says that he always asked the question she least wanted to answer, and she was always glad he did. In the prison he taught coping skills to the guards, believing that the context was the key to prisoners’ mental health. In the grocery store, he asked people about their lives in the form of culinary advice sought and given. On vacation, he asked the provocative question that sparked evening-long chats and life-long friendships. (He bummed a cigarette from a stranger in a campground shower house, and when asked for a light, he replied, “Get your own **** match!”) When he chauffeured elderly ladies to medical appointments, he offered an ear in exchange for stories and cookies. He uttered puns that have stuck in memory for half a century. (Did he really make up, “Goy meets Beryl” on the spot?) Though the edge was sometimes raw, the curiosity and concern were deep and abiding.

We argued. At first it was about whether psychology was a science. At the end it was about whether the curtain was pulled all the way and whether the light was left on in the bathroom. Each question engaged us with ourselves and with each other to weave a life that was unique in every single minute and across a lifetime.

So, tomorrow we will hold a memorial gathering at our home on the lake. Friends and family from across the country and across our lives will come together to tell John Stories. The crowd will include the little nieces who love Unyon, the merchants who are friends, the family who opens their hearts to the surprise and inevitability of our union. You will be here, too, in all the ways you touch us or those who touch us. Megan says we must come together to see who we are, now that he is gone. The pattern that emerges will enfold our past and unfold into the future. Thank you, my love, for both.

Dr. Glenda and Mrs. John Eoyang

HSD uses principles from the new sciences to help professionals understand and influence their systems to develop positive and coherent options for action.

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Dancing with Uncertainty

For me these days every conversation either begins or ends with uncertainty. When will we know? What will they (or we) do? How will we recover? Who? What? When? Where? How? We are full of questions as we sense both deep and superficial changes in the contexts that shape our health, success, happiness, and livelihood.

This uncertainty is not simple uncertainty where we can wait for the game to play out according to well defined and widely accepted rules. No, it is radical uncertainty in which the rules, even the game itself, are transforming in surprising ways. We thought we were playing baseball, and at the top of the fourth the umpire signaled a tie ball and the opponents went into scrum. Not only do we not know what the future holds, but we don’t know how to think about what the future might hold!

There is not an approach that can answer these urgent questions better than any other. But human systems dynamics poses questions that can help you engage productively and effectively with massive and unpredictable change. We learned and have adapted one of those key questions from Barry Johnson’s polarity management (http://www.polaritymanagement.com/). This question deals with the underlying differences that establish meaning and motivate action in complex human systems.

The question is:
What are the irreconcilable tensions that influence patterns of thought and action for this group in this context?

As with most of the HSD questions that move quickly from description to action, this question is immediately followed by:
What decisions and actions will optimize the benefits and minimize the risks of both poles of this tension?

So, what does that really mean for adaptive action in times of uncertainty? I will give you some examples of ways that we’ve helped clients navigate these tensions and turn them from perennial conflicts into generative engagements.

Standard (and not so standard) operating procedures. One large design and manufacturing company had worked as independent silos for decades. Separate funding streams encouraged autonomous administrative functions. Ample resources allowed for locally optimized procedures. Weak executive management, rapid growth, multiple acquisitions, global expansion, and poor communications all contributed to a patchwork of inconsistent policies and procedures.

Recent shifts in markets and technology put stress on the organization to increase quality and to reduce costs. The obvious solution was to centralize and standardize policy and process, but every effort to develop and implement standard operating procedures met with massive resistance or (worst yet) passive resistance.

In a management workshop, we explored this challenge as a tension between reality (what one sees and hears) and story (what one tells oneself about what one sees and hears). As the group explored their divergent and convergent realities and stories about standardized practice, the energy in the room shifted. Rather than a holy war between those who wrote and those who were supposed to follow procedures, the conversation turned into shared problem solving in which everyone recognized both the costs and benefits of standardization and customization. From this new perspective, the group explored options for action that included defining levels of customization and criteria for selecting the most appropriate level for local situations.


The dance of difference. This is one example, but we’ve helped many clients deal with a wide variety of dynamic tensions. Some of these may be familiar to you:

• Tradition and innovation
• Individual and group benefits
• External and internal accountability
• Qualitative and quantitative evidence
• Quality, cost, and schedule (three-way polarities are particularly challenging)

Using polarities to transform conflict into creative action is particularly useful in times of uncertainty. Individuals and groups need ways to make meaning and take action, even when they can’t foresee the future. When the rules are changing, individuals and groups need some way to understand and influence themselves, each other, and the world around them. They need to dance with the uncertainty. At the same time, irreconcilable tensions become evident in times of rapid and unpredictable change. Here are some tips for using these tensions to dance with uncertainty.

Name them. Many tensions lie hidden under the surface of public discourse, inaccessible to rational action. When a group names its underlying polarities, they build the capacity to make conscious and shared decisions about them.

Keep dancing. The real juicy polarities are ones that you cannot resolve and that you wouldn’t want to even if you could. Take the standard operating procedures example. Resolving the conflict to either of the poles (everything standard or everything unique) would be costly and ineffective. Finding some compromised middle ground might reap the costs of both with the benefits of neither. Instead, the most effective solution is a dynamic moderation and mediation between the two extremes.

Do it again, and again, and again. As time passes and things change, the polarities, their relative strengths, and potential options for action change quickly. Return often to observe, assess, and plan action to get the most out of your most important polarities.


Resolve the things that are resolvable. Not all serious concerns are polarity based. Sometimes, a challenge simply needs to be met and a problem needs to be solved. Before you begin to engage with a pattern based on an underlying polarity, ensure yourselves and others that it isn’t simply a way to avoid doing the tough work of moving along a predictable path toward a known outcome.

Spend some time thinking about the fundamental tensions that absorb resources and keep you stuck in old, unproductive conversations. Explore new options that will allow you to get the best and avoid the worst of each extreme. Call one of your friends in the HSD Associate network, and we’ll be happy to talk with you about how to dance more effectively with uncertainty.

Glenda H. Eoyang, Ph.D.
www.hsdinstitute.org
866-HSD-INST

Balance

In this blog posting, Glenda Eoyang reflects on
Balance

We all strive for balance: Work/life, expansion/stability, asset/liability, risk/reward, freedom/responsibility. We think of balance as bringing physical health, emotional resilience, organizational sustainability, team productivity, and community stability. In all these contexts we find it much easier to talk about balance than to achieve it. More often than not, potential clients call me because they recognize something in their world is out of balance. They hope that I, as an external observer and experienced consultant, will be able to help get them back into balance again.

Like many things in complex adaptive systems, though, balance is more interesting and challenging than it appears at first glance. Balance is complicated enough in chemical and biological systems, and it can be completely confounding in human systems. Human systems dynamics has several tools to help assess and influence balance for individuals, teams, organizations, and communities, but the most important thing is to understand what “balance” means in the context of a complex human system.

The technical definition of balance is equilibrium.

The traditional understanding of equilibrium assumed that it was the endpoint of most spontaneous motion. If a closed system was left alone, it would tend toward equilibrium. Differences across the system would balance out, and the system as a whole would come to rest when energy was equalized from one part to another. Hot and cold blend, and the whole becomes luke warm. High energy dissipates across the system, until the whole ends up with a homogenous distribution of energy. Resources flow from high concentrations to low, until all parts of the system are the same, then change ceases.

This process makes sense in physical systems, but it doesn’t always work in human systems. Because human systems are open and their causal relationships are nonlinear, we seldom see situations where excitement, information, money, or other critical differences distribute themselves easily across a whole community. Instead, we see human patterns where differences increase over time. The rich get richer; the smart get smarter, and excitement (or fear) builds over time, rather than dissipating. These non-equilibrium seeking patterns match our experience and common sense, but they require a nontraditional understanding of how the desire for balance shapes change in human interaction.

Nonlinear dynamics deals with two critical distinctions in equilibrium, both of which are critical to understanding balance in our personal, professional, and organizational lives.

Static or dynamic. Static equilibrium describes an object at rest, where all the forces are equal, balanced, and unchanging. We see this sometimes in human systems when people are deadlocked in conflict or when confusion brings about inaction. We often talk about systems being “stuck” when they’ve fallen into a static equilibrium situation. To get the system moving again, something (like power, information, innovation) must be introduced to disrupt the current balance and get the system moving again.

Dynamic equilibrium describes an object that is moving, but moving in a perfectly predictable way. Think of a rock at the end of a string that swings around and around, an efficient assembly line, or a high performing team. This kind of equilibrium also holds until it gets an external shock, but the change it experiences is going from ordered to disorderly motion. Shifting into dynamic equilibrium is the sometimes subtle change of going from bumpy and surprising to smooth and predictable motion.

Stable or unstable. In addition to static or dynamic, equilibrium can be either stable or unstable. A system that is in a stable equilibrium will return to its initial position after it is disturbed. Think of holding the eraser end of a pencil and letting the pointed end dangle. Push the point to one side, it will swing a bit and eventually return to where it started. In human systems, this is called “resilience.” A child is resilient (stable equilibrium) when he or she can absorb shocks and return to stability quickly and completely. The same is true for an employee, a team or a whole workforce. Today, our hope is that the world economy was in a stable equilibrium before the shocks of late 2008.

Unstable equilibrium, on the other hand, is where the system is disturbed from either rest (static) or predictable motion (dynamic) and does NOT return to its original state. Balance the pencil on its point, and you’ll have a perfect unstable equilibrium—if you move it even slightly, it will fall over completely rather than bouncing back to where it was before. Process and system breakdowns, violent conflicts, and competition in an immature market all show signs of unstable equilibrium.

The diagram below summarizes how these two distinctions play out in multiple forms of balance in human systems dynamics.

So, when you are searching for balance in your life and work, consider which of these you may already have, which one you might want, and the many options for action that could help you shift from one to another. We will be glad to help you keep or shift the balance of your own far-from-equilibrium system!




Glenda H. Eoyang, Ph.D.
www.hsdinstitute.org
866-HSD-INST

Dynamical Change

The election.

The economy.

Two bigger-than-life patterns loom large in our shared environment. How many different ways can we say that the future will be different from the past? What exaggerated phrases of shock and awe have we heard over the past weeks? Each day brings new surprises and more uncertainty about how the future will unfold. How can we as individuals, families, communities, and nations cope with such instability?

First, we need to realize that these big patterns are not different in kind from the patterns of change we face every day. When changes are smaller or more local, we can convince ourselves that we know what is happening. We take change for granted. We help ourselves believe that we have been there before, that the future isn’t all that different from the past, that we can continue “business as usual.” But even the changes we can comprehend and cope with carry the seeds of a radically new kind of change.

In human systems dynamics, we call this new kind of change dynamical.

Static Change

Since the time of Galileo, we have understood the nature of static change. Static change begins with an object at rest. The purpose of change is to move that object to a different, equally stable, position. To accomplish static change, we just have to answer two questions: Which direction should I push? How hard should I push? This simplistic perspective can be quite useful when it works. From this perspective, my clients:
· Enter existing product niches
· Engage with competitors
· Deal with resistance to change
· Provide advice to a failing employee
· Explore the gap between current reality and future dreams

When systems are stable and change is slow, these approaches can work perfectly well. In complex situations, like today’s election and the roller coaster markets, such an approach can be worse than doing nothing at all. Consider the negative advertising that candidates are heaping on each other. Consider the “bailout” plan that pumped money into a “locked up” credit market. In both cases, our smartest leaders told us we were pushing hard enough and in the right direction. In spite of our faith and our subsequent surprise, these static change strategies did not work. Young voters didn’t know what a Socialist was, and institutions didn’t have faith in borrowers’ ability to repay loans. Our static understanding of change was not enough.

Dynamic Change

Since the time of Newton, we have understood the nature of dynamic change. Dynamic change assumes that an object is moving in a smooth path from starting point to logical conclusion. The purpose of dynamic change is to kick off a chain reaction and to anticipate the predictable stages of evolution. To predict and control dynamic processes, we must answer two different questions: What are the initial conditions? What are the forces working on the object? Like static change, dynamic change works wonderfully when it works. From the dynamic perspective, my clients and colleagues:
· Set objectives and outcomes
· Track trends of change over time
· Expect developmental phases like storming, forming, norming, and performing
· Look for root causes
· Plan and execute projects

When conditions are right, dynamic change works beautifully. When conditions are complex, it does not. Politicos and economists have had their share of frustrating dynamic tactics in the past few months. Consider the political strategies based on historical voting patterns or expectations of racism or sexism. Consider the traditional relationships among the values of commodities, stocks, bonds, currency, and real estate. We all expected a smooth curve of relationship and predictable patterns of behavior. We were surprised.

Dynamical Change

The many fields of nonlinear dynamics have opened our eyes to a new kind of change—dynamical change. Dynamical change relates to the behavior of complex systems, where patterns of change are completely unpredictable. Dynamical change is marked by:
· Fractal patterns when change at one level instigates or prevents change at another level
· The tipping point when a system is poised far from equilibrium and a small change triggers an avalanche
· Intermittent jumps and cascades when the system seems stuck as tension accumulates then breaks loose with abandon
· Networks of connections that can either hold a system stable or move it quickly into new patterns
· Self-organizing patterns when interacting parts generate coherent system-wide patterns

Dynamical change influences objects that are already in motion. It does not follow smooth dynamic paths because the number of variables is large and/or unknown, the system is open to outside influences, and the forces have the potential to amplify each other.

The conditions for dynamical change should sound familiar. They are exactly what we are experiencing in the election and in the economy.

An election campaign engages with individuals and groups that are never completely at rest. Though pundits try to simplify constituencies, each person is a unique combination of expectations and options for action. The political landscape is influenced by a wide variety of other landscapes including the media, literature and arts, economy, service delivery, and even the weather. Finally, the political world is full of mutually reinforcing factors. Campaign funds increase advertising, and advertising increases campaign funds. Dirty ads increase fear, and increasing fear generates new, more egregious ads. Politicians and voters both feed on the byproducts they create. These conditions set the stage for unpredictable, dynamical change.

The same is true for the market economy. Selling and buying are continuous, especially in this global economy. The number of variables that affect market behaviors are enormous including everything from superstition to rainfall to the price of oil. To make matters even more dynamical, the relationships of prices and markets are tightly coupled. A falling market increases fear, and fear makes people sell, and sales lower the market. A trader on Wall Street watches the Hong Kong exchange, and the Chinese trader is watching New York. And so it goes.

We live in the middle of dynamical patterns that we neither understand nor control.
Though there is no silver bullet to resolve issues in dynamical change, human systems dynamics does offer some survival tips:

· Watch multiple time horizons. Be concerned about tomorrow, but don’t forget about next quarter and next year. These days it might even be a good idea to think about the next decade.

· Attend to the whole, the part, and the greater whole. Dynamical systems depend on the interdependencies of massively entangled parts and wholes. Consider yourself, your company, and your industry. Consider yourself, your family, and your neighbors. Consider the middle class, the rich, and the poor. And consider the complex relationships among these self-organizing levels.

· Stay connected. Time and space in dynamical change are “lumpy.” Nothing may be happening where you are, but things might be spinning around your buddy down the block. The more networked you are, the better prepared you’ll be with information and options for action.

· Watch for weak signals. Media focuses on the big messages, but in dynamical change the big messages don’t show up until the real change is over. The key to riding the waves of dynamical change is to see and respond to the whispers of change before the tsunami takes over.

· Hold tightly to your ethics. What do you trust when change is unpredictable and out of control? You can only trust yourself, and other people need to trust you, too. That is why times of dynamical change challenge us to know what we value and to act with conviction and courage.

Whether you are watching the race for the presidency or the dance of the markets, you are witnessing dynamical change at its most extreme. Don’t be fooled by those who spout static or dynamic explanations and advice. Keep your eyes and mind open for adaptive options for action that will help you learn from the past, manage the present, and prepare for the future.

Glenda H. Eoyang, Ph.D
www.hsdinstitute.org
866-HSD-INST

Recently, we asked out CEO and founder, Glenda Eoyang, to talk about how she would answer some of the difficult questions that organizational leaders face. In today's Blog, we are sharing her responses to three of those questions.

How do I build and maintain a coherent team when my workforce is so diverse in age, culture, gender, and world view?

As in so many instances, same and different is a major issue. What similarities keep the team together—goal, deliverables, location, purpose, function, etc.? What differences make a difference to them—expertise, seniority, learning style, etc.? What are the relationships inside the team and out that either give or disturb coherent functions?

Then ask what you can do to shift only one of these conditions—similarities, differences, or exchanges. Take steps to build coherence by establishing common goals, measures, and purpose, while using the critical differences to move forward. Build open and honest relationships about the work, and damp those similarities and differences that contribute to relationships that disturb the coherence. Focus on the differences that make a difference in the work, and ignore the others.

Then do it. Then begin your analysis again.

How do I establish a culture of collaboration and cooperation instead of mistrust and competition?

You do it one interaction at a time.

Collaboration, cooperation, mistrust, competition are patterns that emerge in a system over time. You cannot mandate a change in such a pattern, you have to set conditions for it to emerge.

Each interaction has to be structured to contribute to the new pattern—that includes you as well as them. Act in collaborative ways and reinforce others who do the same. Be cooperative and support cooperation in others. Over time, as the new pattern emerges, it must be reinforced with stories and recognition and celebration consonant with the change.

Consider a short list of simple rules that everyone follows to create emergent patterns. Document your current rules that generate your current pattern and explore ways you might shift the rules to create a different pattern. The patterns emerge across the organization. Engage others in this exploration and in creating the simple rules that will move you toward collaboration and cooperation.

How do I move forward 
when all I am doing is 
putting out fires?

A fire only becomes a fire when someone (maybe you) fails to blow out a match. When you have an early and systemic view of the environment, then you are less likely to encounter fires, and when they arise you’ll be more able to intervene quickly, easily, and effectively. What does this mean in practical terms?

At the moment: When you encounter a fire that is begging to be put out. Pause. Breathe. Ask yourself the question, “If this isn’t resolved now, what is the worst thing that could happen?” Or the question, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how critical is this really?” This simple filter will let most people prioritize and avoid focusing on things that appear urgent but are not important.

In the longer term: Track the fires you fight over the course of a week (or a day if things are really bad for you). Put each one on a post-it note. Cluster the notes to see what patterns show up. Ask yourself what is one thing—simple is good—that could blow out those matches before they catch fire. Do that one thing and see what difference it makes. Whether or not that one helps, do the whole cycle again. Each time you try something new, it will reduce disruption in the environment and eventually reduce the fires to fight and your compulsion to fight them.


At HSD Institute, we offer simple solutions for complex challenges. Check out our website at www.hsdinstitute.org and see all we have to offer you.

Vision

For years, I avoided the “vision thing.”

I dodged a personal vision by telling myself that my real present was much more interesting and exciting than anything I could have envisioned before.

Our HSD Institute vision was developed to aid communication, not creation, of who we are and what we do. I helped my clients consider opportunities and options, but I found discussions about vision to fail them in one of two ways. Either the conversation was bogged down in the present, so the statement was uninspiring and turgid; or it was flying in the clouds to land on something that was fuzzy and/or unrealistic.

So, for years “vision” was not a part of my personal, leadership, or professional practice. In 2007 my mind and practice were changed, thanks to George Johnson (http://www.telavision.tv) and Malcolm Cohan (http://malcolmcohan.com/home.html). What did I learn from them about building and living a vision in the midst of complex adaptive human systems dynamics?

Future possibility comes from present action. A vision has to influence what I do today, or it cannot influence what I will experience tomorrow. For me, that is the difference between a vision and a dream. I can dream of being/doing anything in the world, but it is not a vision unless it informs my choices, decisions and actions today. The future will not come to be all at once in a whole new pattern. It self-organizes over time, based on the conditions I set in everything I do or think about today, tomorrow, and the day after that.

I can set the conditions for the future I desire. In HSD we understand the uncertainty of human systems. We know that we can neither predict nor control the future because of the nature of complex adaptation and self-organization. On the other hand, we are not helpless. We can influence the conditions that influence the emergent patterns. We can focus on or strengthen the boundaries within which patterns will emerge; we can focus on differences that truly make a difference; and we can establish or sustain connections that generate new insights and energy. Through the vision, we set the conditions.

More distinct is easier to replicate. A pattern can be crisp and distinct or fuzzy and unclear. In complex human systems, there is no better or worse, there is just fit. Sometimes a fuzzy pattern is a better fit for the current situation and needs, and sometimes a distinct pattern is more effective. Every pattern has its own benefits and risks. One of the benefits of a clear pattern is that it is much easier to recreate. I’m creating a pattern for the future I desire. The clearer it is, the easier it will be for me (and others) to move it from imagination to reality.

Focus on differences that make a difference. Every day is full of noise—differences that are disruptive but insignificant. Many days I find myself chasing after the most trivial and absurd issues because I haven’t asked myself whether or not they make a difference. An effective vision codifies the differences that make a difference for the pattern I see as a future I desire. It provides a filter that supports my daily (minutely?) choices about where to put my attention and energy. It helps me be sure that I’m focusing on the conditions (containers, differences, and exchanges) that will constitute the patterns of the future I want to see.

Medium matters. Malcolm invented a fabulous method to create visions and move them toward reality. The idea is simple and incredibly powerful. During a visioning process, you create a video that carries the pattern of your vision in words, music, and images. New technologies make it easy to bring these elements together, and the vision video creates a transforming exchange on many, many levels. You can see examples on the web at
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hsdinstitute&search_type=&aq=f .

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. One of Malcolm’s rules is that you watch your vision two times each day—upon rising and before sleeping. It only takes about ten minutes, but it makes a tremendous difference. First, like any self-respecting nonlinear system, the iterative processing builds resilience and robustness into the patterns. Second, (or maybe just the subjective view of the first) the experience is a kind of meditation in which I reflect on my actions of today and plan my actions for tomorrow. The ritual becomes a reinforcing learning/planning cycle that builds a bridge from the patterns of today toward the patterns of a preferred tomorrow.

Go public. Another gift of emerging technologies is the ability to “put it out there.” In the same way that a spoken promise is more binding than an implied one, a vision made public is more powerful than one held privately. Before I started my first vision statement, I had no interest in broadcasting it to the world. The whole idea seemed crazy. By the time I finished it, though, I wanted to share it. I wanted others to see it. I wanted to commit myself publicly to the future I could create.

It is fun. We often consider doing the right thing as painful (at worst) or boring (at best). Creating a vision statement is fun! I have never thought of myself as creative or artistically gifted, and even I lost myself in the journey of exploration and discovery. Every step along the way is fun—if you can overcome the lurking technophobia. As the pieces come together, you see new ideas and spark new possibilities. Each word and every picture can be a new delight.
Ultimately, I’ve begun to think about this vision creation experience as an analogy for building the future itself. Is it possible that I might see my own life’s work as naming the conditions for the pattern I want to create? I would see my life as searching for the words, images, and music to embody that pattern; discovering surprises along the way; and making choices that reinforce and strengthen the pattern when it appears.

If so, then I’m committed to that “vision thing.”

Glenda H. Eoyang, Ph.D.
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