Communities of the Future
by Howard Ross
Systems thinking is the process of understanding how things influence one another within a whole. In nature, systems thinking examples include ecosystems in which various elements such as air, water, movement, plants, and animals work together to survive or perish. In organizations, systems consist of people, structures, and processes that work together to make an organization healthy or unhealthy.
Systems Thinking has been defined as an approach to problem solving, by viewing "problems" as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific part, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences. I is not one thing but a set of habits or practices within a framework that is based on the belief that the component parts of a system can best be understood in the context of relationships with each other and with other systems, rather than in isolation. Systems thinking focuses on cyclical rather than linear cause and effect. Wikepedia
• Collective Stress – created by both the prolonged economic crisis and tension in the world about security.
• Technology – now allows us to transmit information faster, broader, and deeper than ever before. Across our current technology tens of millions of people can be mobilized within days, hours or even minutes. Now in one push of the button, a viral message can be transmitted to the world (“Rally at Tahrir Square at noon!!”) over the Internet, through Facebook, by Twitter or by whatever new communication technology will be invented and be in use by the time this blog is two days old!
• Information – which supported by technology, is disseminated faster and broader, and deeper and, as in the case of WikiLeaks, respecting very few boundaries of privacy or secrecy.
• Globalism – An increasingly greater sense of ourselves as interconnected world citizens, impacted by what’s going on in other places that used to feel much farther away. The whole world is watching. In some cases we welcome that connection, in some cases we try to resist it (as when we attempt to “wall off” our country to immigrants), but either way it looms large in our consciousness.
• Media and Communication – which now constantly blares at us, and, even more significantly pre-sorts the news we see.
• Generational Shifts – that have produced younger people, who are inherently more diverse, more informed, more connected, more independent in their thinking, and more prone to think of themselves as global citizens.
At the nexus of all of these trends we find a world in which people are increasingly less likely to defer to the power of authority figures to tell them what to do. Today people are more likely to instantly react and respond, more likely to find like-minded souls to respond with, and less likely to be “patient” about waiting for change.
What does this say about the organizations and communities of the future? The same energy that can inspire us when it coalesces to create positive change can also create anarchy. Imagine, if we were to shift –- as some have suggested and as is now technologically possible –- to a system in which citizens directly vote on legislation, rather than go through elected officials. An exciting prospect if one believes in “government by the people.” Yet, how informed might they be? How susceptible to the kind of demagoguery we have consistently been seeing? How likely for a majority to dominate a minority?
For those of us in leadership positions, it calls for a significant reinvention of how we go about leading. It requires constantly giving up control and encouraging autonomy. It requires recognizing that the people we are leading may know more, more often, about more things than we ever have experienced. It means that the “command and control” structures of leadership we have been mostly raised to admire must be replaced with more inclusive forms of stewardship, in which the role of the leader is one of facilitation even more than directing.
• Technology – now allows us to transmit information faster, broader, and deeper than ever before. Across our current technology tens of millions of people can be mobilized within days, hours or even minutes. Now in one push of the button, a viral message can be transmitted to the world (“Rally at Tahrir Square at noon!!”) over the Internet, through Facebook, by Twitter or by whatever new communication technology will be invented and be in use by the time this blog is two days old!
• Information – which supported by technology, is disseminated faster and broader, and deeper and, as in the case of WikiLeaks, respecting very few boundaries of privacy or secrecy.
• Globalism – An increasingly greater sense of ourselves as interconnected world citizens, impacted by what’s going on in other places that used to feel much farther away. The whole world is watching. In some cases we welcome that connection, in some cases we try to resist it (as when we attempt to “wall off” our country to immigrants), but either way it looms large in our consciousness.
• Media and Communication – which now constantly blares at us, and, even more significantly pre-sorts the news we see.
• Generational Shifts – that have produced younger people, who are inherently more diverse, more informed, more connected, more independent in their thinking, and more prone to think of themselves as global citizens.
At the nexus of all of these trends we find a world in which people are increasingly less likely to defer to the power of authority figures to tell them what to do. Today people are more likely to instantly react and respond, more likely to find like-minded souls to respond with, and less likely to be “patient” about waiting for change.
What does this say about the organizations and communities of the future? The same energy that can inspire us when it coalesces to create positive change can also create anarchy. Imagine, if we were to shift –- as some have suggested and as is now technologically possible –- to a system in which citizens directly vote on legislation, rather than go through elected officials. An exciting prospect if one believes in “government by the people.” Yet, how informed might they be? How susceptible to the kind of demagoguery we have consistently been seeing? How likely for a majority to dominate a minority?
For those of us in leadership positions, it calls for a significant reinvention of how we go about leading. It requires constantly giving up control and encouraging autonomy. It requires recognizing that the people we are leading may know more, more often, about more things than we ever have experienced. It means that the “command and control” structures of leadership we have been mostly raised to admire must be replaced with more inclusive forms of stewardship, in which the role of the leader is one of facilitation even more than directing.
We have an opportunity to learn to create a greater sense of Organizational Community within our businesses, schools, community structures, and governmental institutions. A true appreciation of the interconnectedness of the various stakeholder groups that we interact with, and a greater sense of inclusiveness so that all people can contribute to the greater good. More and more people, including some of the clients we’re working with, are proving that these kinds of organizations can thrive, even while others are struggling.
The world will not be “quieting down.” In fact, it is likely to continue to become more chaotic. Those of us who lead organizations and governments will have a hard time letting go of our habitual ways of leading and interacting. Some of us may fall to the wayside. Some of our organizations and governments may do the same.
But those who survive will have to decide how we manage that chaos. Do we fight against it and create upheaval and more conflict, or do we take more of an Aikido approach, creating “chaordic” structures that provide just enough order around the chaos to keep us focused on the needs of the future. How well will we be able to internalize the revolution that is happening outside of us?
It is not too grandiose to say that the fate of humanity may rest in the answer to that question.
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