Smart Change Blog

The Futility of Planning?

Why do we bother to plan, when a sudden dip in the stock market or the loss of a leader could make our plans simply go up in smoke? Is that an incorrect question? Perhaps a better question is what are we planning for? What is the end we seek? If we can get clear about that, perhaps a number of different strategies could be explored. But then we ask, which strategies would work? So we are once again in a quandary. Why bother? The answer lies in the power of the process rather than the outcome.

I sometimes use scenario planning as a strategic planning process because I like the evolutionary nature of the process. The unrestrained approach allows organizations to give up dichotomous thinking, and to embrace a "both/and/all" way of thinking. Undergirding the process are experimentation, trial and error, multiple perspectives, aligned employees and leaders and organizational legends, all of which are spun from the foundation of core beliefs and values.

So why is the process so important? "Process" implies movement and energy. Whenever there is energy, there is life, so the process of planning has an opportunity to give life to the organization. But, life often takes interesting twists and turns, so our planning can reflect the circuitous, undulating nature of life and the global community. Suppose organizations had as a goal to expand, evolve and come alive. What would organizations be with such a goal?

You might say that driving toward greater market shares and bigger profit margins make happy shareholders in for-profits, or better programs and reaching a larger portion of the community make happy stakeholders in nonprofits and government agencies. But, there's more to organizing as a company than the location of the next new product or service. Emotions such as compassion, gratitude and joy,as well as enjoying a sense of value or worth in the world community come to mind as drivers of change. The process of planning can have heart.

A fascinating man whom I met in a training program a few years ago, reported that as a 30 year veteran in sales, he's never sold anyone anything. He said he was only a responsive problem-solver! Some may say that was a creative reframing of the sales process, but I say that the salesman enjoyed the process and invested life into his work: a responsive problem-solver has heart.

Sometimes planning can be "heady," fraught with tables and reports that provide gleeful moments for the analytical types. To the extent that the analyticals come alive in the process, planning from that perspective is working to benefit the organization. Tables and reports are only part of the story, no matter how important they may seem to be.

Other perspectives may build on the analysis or offer a departure from it and "blink" toward innovation. (for those who may be wondering, the "blink" terminology references Malcolm Gladwell's wonderful book Blink, which explores an inexplicable knowing that we all have that can provide remarkable insights) Intuitive or innovative perspectives also bring life to the planning process, providing yet another thread of excitement. But, innovation requires method and structure. Countless good ideas never get translated into viable products or services, because there is no one willing and able to "put legs on them."

So much planning stays at a dream state, never giving way to method and structure. Implementation is the practicality of planning. Even though strategy may be the protagonist in the drama of planning, the lack of implementation planning can be an unfortunate antagonist. Often implementation is seen as the next step after the sexy work of strategic thinking is complete. There is a symbiotic relationship between strategy and implementation, much like the relationship between sales/marketing and production, or the board retreat planning and the executive director's staffing resources for implementation. It is critical that one feeds the other in a life-giving way, requiring mutual respect,understanding each other's organizational or departmental cultures, listening-based communication and interpersonal trust. Embracing multiple perspectives allows for an enlivened planning process.

If there is an investment in enlivening the process with heart and multiple perspectives, planning can be built on the foundation of essential beliefs and values - we sometimes call them core beliefs and values. If we strip away all the ups and downs of business and examine what is consistently true for that business, the core values and beliefs appear. Uncovering core beliefs is a spiritual experience, since the spirit of the organization, from which the mission and vision and plans take life, is grounded or held stable from the core.

Futile? Planning can be a journey to the core of the organization, allowing the joy of experience and expectations to coalesce into a focus that reflects life and the process of living. From my perspective, that's vital!

I invite your comments.

Latent Heat in The Change Process

Several months has now passed since my last blog post. During that time, a number of ideas have been ruminating in my being, mostly about leadership and the change process. Sometimes I turn to science for insights. Such was the case a few weeks ago. I explored the concept of latent heat - the amount of energy in the form of heat that gets released or absorbed by a substance during a change phase. The thermochemical term latent heat now substituted by another - enthalpy of transformation - still holds interest for me as a metaphor for the energy of change. A man named Joseph Black introduced the term back in 1750 as a way to describe the "hidden" energy that lies within. It occurs to me that people have "latent heat." We have dreams and desires that are in part released into our workplace. Change occurs when we complete the process, when our energy is absorbed by the work itself and the opportunities that also lie hidden in the change process. Change occurs when the latent heat is not diminshed, used up by the change, but instead is allowed to flourish and to push new boundaries of innovation.

Have you ever noticed that a glass of ice will eventually melt unless it's placed in a freezer or an extremely cold refrigerator? I know, you probably don't spend your days thinking about these phenomena. Without the constant lowering of the temperature to maintain the status quo - frozen water - the ice would melt. There is latent heat in the water. The concept of cold is only the lowering of heat - a bit like this February morning in Atlanta! As the sun applies external warmth the heat hidden in the day will emerge and we will experience the warmth that was there all along.

During a change process in an organization, individuals teams,departments, divisions can become aware of the "heat" or energy for change that lies hidden. The heat lies within the thoughts, beliefs and emotions that we carry into the change event. The energy of fear is strong enough to cause extraordinary heat; fear is stimulated by perceived injury or harm. Often the fear energy is deflected into complaints and doubts about the efficacy of the change. Comments such as "I don't see the point in this" or " This will never work" are indicators of latent heat deflected into a fear mode. The leadership challenge is to discover the latent heat, and to find ways to absorb that heat into the change process.

The energy of regret is too a strong emotional reaction to the splitting of a sense of stability that comes from choices made. When we hear comments like " There was a better way to do that" , " How was that decision made?" or " Did we make the right decision?" we are hearing evidence of the latent heat that is being cooled by an uncertainty surrounding the choice. Regret delays absorption of heat energy into the change process. When we take the time to include multiple perspectives on the process for change, we can minimize the cool reception to the change, and maximize the likelihood of absorption of energy into the change. We can also remember that in our yin/yang world that choice will naturally generate regret. That awareness and acknowledgement helps us to temper any self-criticism, resistance or anxiety for the natural feelings of regret.

Inherent in any change process is latent heat, almost always fueled by self-interests that are seeking ways to be realized. Langston Hughes asks the question:What happens to a dream deferred? Dreams  are thoughts that are seeking a way to become real. Leaders have a responsibility to acknowledge the latent heat in individual dreams and to respond with development strategies. The development of an employee or prospective leader is another way to effect the absorption of energy into the work. Heat lying dormant or hidden is wasted energy. The true leader is a servant who is able to mobilize the heat within a person, merging self-interests and organizational directions. What happens to a dream absorbed? It evolves and contributes to the overall energy of the organization.

I welcome your comments.