Stepping into a New, Shared Vision
As The Grove steps into its own visionary future, I have been turning my attention to what it truly means to commit. The picture above is from an early meeting in this process when I was talking with Erik Rolland, Grove senior consultant, and Nevada Lane, Grove partner.
I know that empowered enablers of positive change require an approach that values high engagement, visionary leadership, shifting fundamental assumptions and committing to a new future. When aspirations meet real-world realities, we make the turn from envisioning and planning to taking action.
What is necessary to make this a successful turn and bring everyone involved along?
In our book Visual Consulting: Designing & Leading Change, David Sibbet and I introduce the seven predictable challenges of initiating and actualizing change in organizations. The book is about involving internal and external stakeholders in the needed conversation, visioning, committing to a specific direction, supporting visible action and fully integrating the change.
The book emphasizes the value of focusing on both the inner experience of change, which needs to be respected and actively worked with, as well as the outer support structures that guide the change initiative from inception to completion.
Throughout, David and I illustrate how visual facilitation, dialogue, change leadership and the “use of self” can be integrated into a holistic approach. In this blog post, I revisit Chapter 10: Stepping into a New, Shared Vision.
Our Seven Challenges of Change™ Framework—the book’s backbone—outlines best practices for generating the outer-process structure needed to bring a change to fruition and discusses the inner-process dynamics experienced by those affected by the change.
Our focus on how change challenges are actually experienced prepares change leaders to be more comprehensive in their approach. It helps them generate and tap into the energy and motivation that people bring to the process and on which the success of the change initiative is dependent.
Challenge 4: Stepping into a New, Shared Vision
Central to the Seven Challenges of Change Model is Challenge 4: Stepping into a New, Shared Vision. Here, the organization moves from initiating the change to begin to actualizing it. This is when what has been planned and envisioned becomes concrete.
A shift occurs from being divergent and exploring possibilities, and the focus narrows into a specific direction. It is a significant turning point in a planned change process. At this point, all the needed voices should have had a chance to have been heard, for people to think creatively about internal and external forces that drive the change and for innovative and visionary thinking to generate new possibilities. As people align and crossroads issues become addressed, a forward direction emerges. This is when full commitment is needed.
Inner-Process Dynamics for Challenge 4
Crossing the threshold from what has been to what will be requires some essential inner work. People must let go of the old story and old practices that are no longer helpful and be willing to embrace the new direction and learn their way into it. Attention moves from planning to action. What will living into the new story, vision or direction look like?
This in-between period is often rich with emotion. Attachment to the past might make it difficult to let go; ungrounded excitement about the future may speed up the process too quickly. This might add to an overwhelming sense of complexity. Holding complexity is a core skill in guiding through the narrows of a change process.
Keeping the motivation and energy going in the face of bottom-line constraints can be challenging. People remembering the original purpose of the undertaking and focusing on the work ahead, especially early wins, will help provide orientation and grounding.
Outer-Process Structures for Challenge 4
From the perspective of the outer process, generative new images of the future—such as symbols, metaphors or vision maps that have been collectively generated—are hugely helpful in creating alignment and maintaining it.
Leaders need support in making tough decisions without losing buy-in. Decisions require resources. Trade-offs will need to be made and are signals of commitment. Although people may not agree with a specific decision or trade-off, involvement in the alignment and decision process and being heard will help ensure their future support.
A vision becomes real when these new actions take shape. This is what it means to embody the new future. Agreeing on initiatives or bold steps that will help the organization realize its new future will be the last action associated with Change Challenge 4 before moving to Change Challenge 5, which addresses the need for empowering visible action.
To read more about Stepping into a New, Shared Vision, download the full chapter from Visual Consulting: Designing & Leading Change.
