Fiercest in the Land

In our efforts to empower invested leaders to bridge the gap between strategy and execution so that their entire organization is galvanized for decisive action at every level, we have had many opportunities to embed ourselves ‘in the room’ with senior decision makers as they develop the organization’s strategic direction. Because invested leaders fully understand the weight of their decisions and the intended impact of this strategic direction on the entire organization, our team is consistently reminded of how challenging this process truly is, especially for those leaders that care deeply about the outcome.

Hard, yes. AND infinitely valuable. AND, proven again and again to be absolutely worth it. Leaders that are willing to move through the ‘hard’ are rewarded with a strategic direction that accomplishes the following:
(1) allocation of the right resources at the right place at the right time for maximum effect (value creation and value protection), (2) direction to achieve strategic objectives at a higher volume in less time or a combination of all three, and (3) leaders have the ability to rest assured in their decision making even in the most uncertain and ambiguous of environments.

The Value of Working Through the Hard

Because we have witnessed firsthand the benefit of leaders working together through the challenges associated with developing this strategic direction, we routinely remind them that ‘We love you too much to take the pain away!’.

We love the leadership teams that we support far too much to take their pain away.

Understanding Disequilibrium in Leadership and Learning

This concept is well known within learning theory as disequilibrium, described as the ‘discomfort felt when our existing models no longer fit new evidence’. Senior executive Sandy Speicher describes disequilibrium as the emotional low point of synthesis: the phase after exploration when teams must distill research into a new mental model[1]. “When supporting senior leaders as they challenge existing models in order to “think of something never thought of before,” and as they engage in the exploration required to shape a strategic direction capable of igniting the organization to accomplish what it has never accomplished before, the “emotional low point of synthesis” the author describes is the moment in which we see the greatest growth. And it is exactly what is needed to increase the likelihood of success.

The Leader’s Temptation to Rescue

Inevitably, this is also the point in time where leaders may be tempted to ‘rescue’ teams by taking the pain away. This effort may take the form of providing the answer (albeit incomplete), moving too quickly to the next stage, or desiring to abandon the process altogether. Paradoxically, in the desire to ‘take care of the team’, the well-meaning efforts, in fact, short‑circuit the very creativity needed for innovative and strategic outcomes. Instead, we have learned that it is the leader’s responsibility to not only protect the struggle, but to be encouraged by its known benefits, rather than prematurely attempting to ‘solve it’.

To illustrate this point, we welcome leaders to learn from (what we believe is) the fiercest creation in all the land: the butterfly. As the popular parable explains, when a caring human observes a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, the emergence is painfully slow and often creates stress in the observer while they stand-by and ‘do nothing’. However, if we attempt to help by widening the opening, the butterfly may slide out easily in the short term but experience the worst outcome possible for the long term. As a result of desire to ‘take the struggle away’, the wings won’t properly expand and harden because the normal act of fighting through the struggle strengthens the wings and stabilizes the muscles needed for flight. Albeit well intentioned, our interference ultimately leaves the butterfly with shriveled wings and the inability to fly. The intention to reduce struggle ends up reducing capability.

Capability is Built Through the Struggle

In contrast, our experience has demonstrated repeatedly that effective strategy is created through thoughtful, caring, and intentionally designed discomfort; discomfort that necessarily creates the right conditions to destabilize previously held models so that an innovative, effective path forward can emerge. Like the butterfly, the resulting capability is not an outcome in spite of struggle but instead is the best possible outcome because of it. And we love our clients far too much to ever take that struggle away!

[1] Speicher, S. (2017, November 6). The uncomfortable secret to creative success is “disequilibrium”. Quartz. https://qz.com/1118085/the-uncomfortable-secret-to-creative-success-is-disequilibrium