Crushed and squeezed by the care system- do you recognise this?

What do you feel when you see this? Does it resonate?

What are some of the other challenges NHS employees experience in their day-to-day work?

Creating slow spaces for supporting O.D. work and learning

Guest blog by Maxine Craig

What do you need to do your OD work? When we are faced with this question we often jump straight to a list. In this blog post we want to provoke you to think about the space you grant yourself to think, reflect and renew so you can be the best version of yourself within your OD work.

In OD we are often taught to think about the prevailing narratives, the ones taking centre stage, the ones which may be reflecting something important AND we are taught that part of our work is to help reflect back the reality of people’s experiences as they go about their lives. We are hearing two narratives, amongst others.  A narrative about unsustainable workloads, of espoused values and behaviours which are not enacted in the workplace, but paid lip service to in reports and on office walls, of work intensity and a busyness created in part by the amount of 24-7 connection we now all experience in our lives.

And a second narrative spoken in a hushed voice that people crave spaces where they could just stop and breathe.

It was against or because of this backdrop of these two narratives, that a few of us in the field of OD decided to take ourselves away and create a different type of space. This space would be ours to create and manage, it would offer us the time to spend on things that were important to us and it would be a SLOW space.

The term ‘slow’ wasn’t a term we knew, it just sort of arrived and now I am frequently asked what a slow space actually is!

For those of us involved in the enquiry it was a space in which we could think, reflect, review and restore. Such a space is important because it nourishes our soul and for many of us our work is much more than paying the bills it is about our contribution to world, it is the work of our heart. So, with the prevailing narratives in mind, a colleague and I began to dream about going away to a place we could share time together around our work, think together, debate together and we liked the idea of creating an OD salon in the style of our European colleagues.

Very simply we found a retreat house, booked a couple of rooms and invited people to join us via Eventbrite.  We saw ourselves as the hub of a self-organising group, everyone would organise themselves, no one would book rooms on behalf of others, there would not be an agenda. Whoever turned up would come with a warm heart and an open mind. In a roundabout way that is what happened and we also learned a lot!

We learned that even a self-organising group needs co-ordination, someone has to take the first step. Then there is a need to hold the boundary because we found people wanted to know what would we focus on? what would we do? These questions felt like an invitation to step into a leadership role. We learned that if you do not hold tight to the self-organising principle then others will look for a leader to lead. So, one message is beware the need for a leader and if you are a habitual leader you might want to practice some self-control and leave the leadership baton firmly on the floor.

As we talked of our up and coming salon on social media interest pick up in the strangest of manners. People started to ask “would we share our outcomes?”, I was quite clear that my outcome would be my outcome and I wouldn’t be taking the time to share it with anyone! I thought a lot about that, how do you share a full heart, a feeling of connection, and peacefulness deep inside? The social media interest sparked a really interesting realisation, people expected us to produce something because we were gathering. It really reinforced our view that we all need a space where we can talk, share and think without being asked about the return on our investment.

One important point to note is that that everyone was resourcing themselves to participate in the salon. Everyone believed that it was sufficiently important to commit their own time and money to the goals we sought. It might have been different if this had not been the case. 

This was our time, a slow time, away from work but about the work of our heart’s.

Upon arrival deciding what to do with our time was a little strange, most of us were used to agendas, running from one meeting to another, eating whilst working and seldom stopping until the day was done. We gathered on a cold, late winter afternoon in a warm sitting room with coffee and cake and talked about what we might do with the next 24 hours. We shared why we had come to this slow space, what we were seeking, what we were focused on in our practice. This was a heartening experience, hearing of people’s interests, passion and requests to be heard and supported.

Gently and in a bounded way we navigated our way around planning how to use the first part of our time running up to supper. I personally owned my own discomfort at not knowing and not having any agenda. This response had taken me by surprise as from its inception we had planned not to have a plan! However, negotiating the use of time felt like such an important thing to do, working truly collaboratively it was a joy to listen, contribute and share.  These slow conversations, in a physically welcoming space were what we had been longing for. 

I have been asked ‘how important was the physical space?’, I think it was very important. We gathered here, a simple, spiritual, quiet space with a bar! We felt nurtured, the staff cared for us, the food was wholesome, simple and delicious. They cared that we had everything we needed. The bedrooms were simple, welcoming homely spaces, the gardens were inspiring, peaceful. As we closed for the night and made our way to rest we were treated to a spectacular display of stars from one of the least light polluted places in the UK.  I have been asked could you have gone to a nice spa hotel … I personally don’t think so.

As we reengaged at breakfast I believe we were feeling the effect of the slow space, we lingered over food, and gathered to focus on the next 6 hours together. Once again, we collaboratively worked through what it was we wanted to focus on, it was a gentle enquiry. We shared resources, moments of reflection and enjoyed just being together. Our usual routine of evaluation, action planning and next steps fell away. It was liberating to stay until we wanted to finish, to follow our conversations and learn together and to restore our faith in our work, ourselves and each other.

Our process to create a slow space was a simple one:

• Decide to gather

• Select a slow venue

• Put out an invitation to self-organise and attend

• Gather and work through your feelings of being in a slow space, exploring what it means to be ‘off your grid’ for a while

• Collaboratively debate and agree what it is you want to focus on the most (we learned that there will be far more than you could ever get through)

• Hold back your usual patterns of outcomes, outputs and action plans

• Notice your reactions to the slow space, it’s really important data!

I have been asked a number of questions after our gathering, which I will not repeat here, maybe they are for another posting. But the most important question “what was the best thing that happened at the Salon”

My response WE LISTENED TO EACH OTHER and how often does that happen each week?

Maxine Craig

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What can we do together that we can't do alone?

What can we do together that we can't do alone? Rethinking leadership and self-development through the lens of relationships

Sadler Heath Workshop, London 9am-1pm 16th March 2018

Julian Burton and Eli Rebeiro, Delta7 Change Ltd.

“Relating with another person is one of the most powerful crucibles for our growth and awakening, giving us the opportunity to learn to become more aware and able to see ourselves more clearly, to love more deeply, to communicate and show ourselves transparently as we grow trust” (Malcolm Stern).

We believe that the quality of interpersonal relationships at work is central to the personal learning, wellbeing, performance and success of every organisation. In this workshop we want to do two things. Firstly, to set the scene by sharing some leadership research that is helping us think about the benefits of more relational styles of leadership and learning. Then we want to explore developmental themes that each of us is finding on the edges of our learning and look at how the quality of our relationships could positively influence our capacity to learn and grow.

As O.D. practitioners we find many leaders are experiencing more complexity and uncertainty in their role leading change. Some we talk to feel stuck, overworked and exhausted. We often hear that clients want to move away from command and control and move towards more collaborative ways of working. The focus of culture change seems to becoming more personal; there is a requirement for leaders to role model stepping into new, more collaborative ways of being. For many of us this may involve some degree of personal growth and for others, a significant transformation.

There seems to be a growing need for more relational ways of leading and managing. The dominant view of management is that work is done transactionally by individuals (Hartling, L. and Sparks, E., 2008); yet the collaborative, interactive nature of organising and coordinating mutually interdependent tasks and roles means that effective working relationships are what gets things done (Fletcher 2001). We are not machines, we are human beings with needs and feelings. We are not individuals, we are all connected, we need each other and our relationships are what matter most in life. Our lives are a tapestry woven from the fabric of our relationships. This is why we believe that organisations can’t afford not to focus on building relationships as a central theme in leadership development and culture change work.

In this workshop we will engage in some experiential exercises to explore the different ways we can relate to each other at work; and discuss how that can illuminate the direction that leadership development might need to take in order to more fully support organisations to thrive.

Just published - a chapter on Visual Dialogue in the Handbook of Research Methods in Complexity Science

We are very pleased to announce the publication of The Handbook of Research Methods in Complexity Science, featuring a chapter by our colleagues Julian Burton and Sam Mockett:

'The art of complexity: using visual artefacts and dialogue to bridge the gap between strategic plans and local actions in organisations'.

Abstract

'This chapter looks at the use of visual representations of organisational narrative in combination with facilitated dialogue (’Visual Dialogue’) as a Complexity-inspired tool for culture change and organisational development. The Visual Dialogue change process was created by change consultancy Delta7 fourteen years ago and in that time has been successfully implemented in over 100 large organisations. The process creates spaces for employees and leaders to come together to make sense of what is happening, what needs to change, and what actions are required. It helps people connect strategy to action, learn about each other’s roles and take ownership of the parts each has to play in successful implementation. At the operational level, the process helps shift the way people talk about change and, as a result, enables the change process to become more meaningful, engaging and effective. The process creates the conditions from which learning, innovation and better relationships can emerge.'

We will describe some of the cultural challenges of turning strategy into action that many organisations are currently facing, particularly in the context of the relationship and status gap between leaders and employees, and how difficult it can be to develop a realistic strategy without involving the people responsible for delivering it. We will also show how we have used the Visual Dialogue process as an Organisational Development intervention to address some of the key aspects of these challenges. As the process has evolved over the years we have learned that its principal impact lies in improving the quality of conversations about change between leaders and front line employees, working to create enabling environments that foster mutual sense-making, rich connection and creativity. Finally, we will describe the component parts of Visual Dialogue and how each contributes to creating such enabling environments and supporting emergent change.'

Further details can be found at the publisher's site here.

Blame it on Blame Culture

Does systems working in the NHS feel a bit like this at the moment?

Do relationships matter in the work place? Relational leadership - rethinking organisational change through the lens of relationships

Bristol Leadership and Change Centre, University of the West of England

• Elinor Rebeiro and Julian Burton, Delta7 Change Ltd.

• Date: 06 December 2017 Time: 14:00 - 16:00

• Venue: Room: 3X110, Bristol Business School, Frenchay Campus

At this workshop we want to show that the quality of interpersonal relationships is central to the wellbeing, performance and success of every organisation. This is why we believe that leaders can’t afford not to focus on building relationships as the central theme in leadership development programmes and organisational development work. We would like to use this session to share our perspective on relational leadership and shine a light on some of the unexamined assumptions we believe are maintaining cultures of disconnections and getting in the way of creating more human organisations. 

As practitioners we find ourselves enveloped in our client’s worlds. Their worlds are without doubt messy and complicated as they continually strive to achieve something different, something better. We find many leaders are experiencing more complexity and uncertainty in their role leading change, and it’s getting harder to resolve the wicked problems facing their organisations with traditional management practices. Many people feeling stuck, overworked and exhausted.

What's not working?

For example, most organisational cultures we work in don’t seem to have an emotional climate that nurtures experimenting and innovating new ways of working, yet there are strong intentions to move away from command and control and create more collaborative ways of working. The dominant view of management is that work is done transactionally by individuals (Hartling, L. and Sparks, E., 2008); yet the collaborative, interactive nature of organising and coordinating mutually interdependent tasks and roles means that effective working relationships are what gets things done (Fletcher 2001). 

We care passionately about how theory and practice can inform each other and how to combine the two things together to make them meaningful and productive for our clients. Yet we are noticing that theory still seems pretty far ahead of the reality of practice in organisations. What we are making sense of is how to connect theory and practice in a way that helps organisations but doesn’t put them off the possible innovations that can emerge from this praxis.

We will also engage in some experiential exercises to explore the different ways we can relate to each other at work and discuss how that can illuminate the direction that leadership development might need to take in order to more fully support organisations to thrive.

When was the last time you discussed your relationship with another at work?

What is the cost of leaving a team’s elephants in the shadows?

At a recent meeting I noticed my frustration in the way that we kept going off topic; I was getting tense, felt awkward and hot under the collar. I was trying very hard to work out what was best to say, hoping that no one could see the turmoil I was experiencing. In hindsight I wonder what impact I had on the other people in that meeting. And with all that going around in my head (and my body) I wasn’t able to be fully present in the meeting. In the end I felt sad that it was safer to keep quiet.

Continuing the theme of my last post on the impact of the shadows and unconscious dynamics on the quality of meetings, I’ve been thinking a lot about how often the biggest unspokens, the elephants in the shadows, can often be the behaviours of someone senior. It can take a lot of courage to bring such behaviours to their attention. Everyone in a meeting may be painfully aware of them, yet it’s far too unsafe to speak about. It can be what some people call a “CV moment”.

Have you been in a meeting recently where you have sat in silence, feeling unable to say what you really think, exchanging nervous looks, as if to say “OMG, this is intolerable!” while feeling it too risky to speak up? When people fear to give their team leader or manager feedback on how they are behaving, it can create an atmosphere of unarticulated frustration, confusion and resentment. It is possible for this to lead to a culture of low morale, "resistance" and even sabotage.

How can we stay on task and focus on what needs to be achieved when these kinds of unconscious dynamics are going on in the shadows at every meeting? I often hear that anything to do with emotions and relationships at work is called the “soft stuff” and not taken seriously. Why, for goodness sake?! It’s actually the hard stuff. And not embracing the hard stuff can cost us a tremendous amount of our time and energy, managing the confusion and uncertainties that avoiding it creates. And what is the financial cost of all this for an organisation?

Help! We need to be less reliant on help!

When managers see things going wrong in a department they may respond by moving staff with key talents to help those who are struggling to cope. Hopefully these specialists will contain the situation and restore normal service, but their talents mean they could be redeployed just as quickly to be of use elsewhere. That can leave the department in the lurch; vulnerable once more, dependent as ever on external capability.

Likewise, it can seem cost effective to bring in external consultants to deal with a specific issue, but if the underlying causes remain then there's the makings of an expensive dependency - unless the required skills can be adopted by the permanent team.

Must it be a choice between getting an expert to deal with an immediate problem quickly, or equipping that department with the right tools and skills it will need to remain robust and reliable? If support doesn't include learning, then how much of a help is it in the long run?

Why is it so hard to make change happen?

Despite the efforts that leaders go to in communicating their future vision to their employees, many change initiatives still fail.

Leadership and employees need the opportunity to develop a shared, personal commitment to the change needed, and an understanding of how to deliver it.