Reflections 2nd June
After Observation, the Importance of Orientation
In last Sunday’s post, I started to explore ways in which we can position ourselves as observers. How can we think about and understand our attitudes and dispositions when it comes to evaluating the world around us?
This week, I want to go from considering our role as observers to ways in which we can understand what we are observing.
When it comes to observation and orientation, the next five weeks here in the UK offer a real case study as we go through the periodic ritual when those in power, or close to power, try to persuade those not in power that they will be better off following their brand of politics.
It will be a curious mixture of rhetoric, tragedy, comedy and magic that resembles an alloy of “Yes Minister”, “The Thick of It”, “Fawlty Towers” and “The Godfather” when carefully researched, simplistic, deadening lines about “plans” and “change” and a variety of catch phrases are used like catapults, hurling insults at the other side and any idea of conversation gets buried in the debris.
No discussion on how Brexit, HS2, and other dramatic failures were once “planned”, or that “change” is not something we control but adapt to, or the qualities of those promising what they are unlikely to deliver.
Our politics at this time is just a slapstick version of what happens in the less visible exchanges in business and the public sector. Organisations that have little connection to those they serve take refuge in tired business school dogma as the world moves around them faster than they can adapt, restricted as they are by plans, processes, and promises to shareholders that they cannot meet other than by cutting costs and hoping they are somewhere far away before the risks they are taking manifest. The slow-motion horror shows that are the Contaminated Blood and Post Office Inquiries are but the West End Show versions of what is happening elsewhere out of the spotlight.
We know the feeling
Well I don't know why I came here tonight I've got the feeling that something ain't right I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs
Clowns to the left of me Jokers to the right Here I am stuck in the middle with you
Stealers Wheel. Songwriters: Joe Egan / Gerald Rafferty
When there are at least sixty-four state elections this year, plus one for the EU, it’s going to be an interesting year.
Getting our act together as sane observers and orienting ourselves to the new realities they will bring seems necessary for those of us stuck in the middle.
Regular readers of this blog will know of my respect for John Boyd's work, his thinking on strategy, and the potency of his “OODA” loop as a way of framing uncertainty. Boyd understood, at many levels, the interaction between our individual internal states and that which we observe is a constant systemic dance with emerging temporary realities.
Models and plans are a way of holding this dance in the spotlight for a moment, and as George Box said, “All models are wrong; some are useful.” They are useful as a way of getting our bearings and setting off. They set not maps. They have no understanding of territory yet to form, and those who think they have predictive power or offer a clear path to a destination are either salespeople or campaigning Prime Ministers (and maybe there is little difference).
Plans freeze our perception of reality for a moment, allowing us to compare perspectives and set direction before we return to the mists of our constantly changing surroundings. Goals have a similar temporary benefit but have questionable value as a mark of progress. “Get Brexit Done!” was a goal within a plan that exhibited more self-interested rhetoric than compassionate intelligence.
Making sense of what we see, if only for a moment requires two things.
First, a framework. The one I will use is based on the orientation part of Boyd’s loop, in the same way as last week's “Observe” was, and as Boyd was the first to point out, is a place to start, not a solution.
Second, conversation. Each of us has a very personal, monocular view of what is happening. Achieving a binocular, three-dimensional view requires very different conversations than the commoditised ones we often have in the workplace as we pursue short-term goals in a state of wilful blindness.
Developing our abilities to observe and orient through Better Conversations is at the heart of Outside the Walls thinking.
Next Sunday's post will focus on turning monochrome conversations into full colour, illuminating the possibilities of the changes we are experiencing and providing a framework for thinking about conversations.
The first of the regular, open conversations will take place on Tuesday, June 4th, at 5 pm UK time.
Today, for paid subscribers, the link to the conversation and more thoughts on the orientation framework follow below.
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