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In 1991, Adam Kahane, who was working on scenario planning in Shell’s famed strategic planning unit in London, England, was sent to South Africa in the wake of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison to organize a project that would help the government and opposition find strategies to manage the huge transition the country faced.
Three decades later, the third-generation Montrealer, based again in his home city, has facilitated multi-stakeholder negotiations in more than 50 countries that have brought together executives, politicians, civil servants, generals, guerrillas, community activists, clergy and United Nations officials.
“We live in systems and we co-create them,” he writes in his new book, Everyday Habits for Transforming Systems.
Often we are unaware of those systems. Or if we are aware of them, we might feel there is nothing we can do to change them.
But sometimes we know we must transform them fundamentally so they work better for more people. “These transformations don’t just require long-term strategies or daring initiatives. They also require a particular way of being, thinking, relating and acting, day in and day out – a set of habits to disrupt ourselves and the systems we are part of,” he says.
Reviewing his projects over the years and talking again to some of the savvy system mechanics he worked with, he has collected a list of seven habits to grasp:
- Acting responsibly: We become part of the solution by understanding how we are part of the problem and acting accordingly. Working with aboriginal people in Canada, he has had to accept responsibility for the centuries of oppression and marginalization those folks had faced at the hands of white people like him, which led George Muswaggon, a former grand chief from Cross Lake First Nations, to matter-of-factly say at the opening of a session, “I don’t trust you.” His team had to change their approach and tools, accepting the role they play in the system in order to transform it.
- Relating in three dimensions: To transform a system, you need to grapple with the system’s function, purpose or characteristic set of behaviours or outcomes; its elements or parts; and the structure of the interconnections or interrelationships among the parts. You won’t succeed if you only work on just one or two of those dimensions. You must also relate with others as fully rounded, three-dimensional beings – fellow actors, fellow parties and power brokers and fellow kin. Beyond focusing on the good of the parts you must not neglect the good of the whole and of the relationships.
- Looking for what’s unseen: A system cannot be fully grasped from any single perspective or position. You must look at what’s happening from multiple perspectives, which means stretching to seek out and learn with people located at other positions in the system. Apply this by engaging with someone in a different part of the system than you, observing without judgment their viewpoint, and then stretching to take one small new action in response.
- Working with cracks: Another Montrealer, Leonard Cohen, told us in his song Anthem “there is a crack, a crack in everything/That’s how the light gets in.” Mr. Kahane notes that systems can seem unchangeable but they crack and are cracked, which opens up new possibilities. You must look for, move toward and work with these fissures rather than ignoring or shying away from them. Mr. Kahane points out how each time a new Canadian government was formed, disability advocate Al Etmanski would find out which cabinet ministers had a disabled family member and connect with them – cracks that could open light into the system.
- Experimenting a way forward: Transforming a complex system requires learning through doing – not just thinking and then doing. You must feel your way forward, learning what works through trial and error. “Radical engagement involves exploring, experimenting, discovering and shifting the boundary between the possible and impossible,” he says.
- Collaborating with unlike others: Make differences productive by working with people whose pairing might seem unusual. Don’t just talk to them; act together. Diverse allies – including strangers and opponents – can be critical to change. “When we collaborate, we pool our diverse assets: Experiences, capacities, authority, money, technologies, ideas, followers,” he says.
- Persevering and resting: System transformation is a long and winding journey, not a short or straightforward project. You must adjust your pace as you go, to remain effective and healthy on the journey. “I think a great model for organizers is the biblical figure of Moses, who led the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness, but died before they entered the Promised Land: Somebody who is always trying to do something and doesn’t quite get there. That’s just the nature of the work,” he writes.
There is no recipe for system transformation. But those seven habits, he says, are ingredients you can use in accordance with the particularities of the system you are working with and your position in it. Don’t wait until you are certain of the right way or right place to start. Begin anywhere, taking a step beyond your habitual, familiar and comfortable position toward one where you sense an opportunity, while engaging energetically and attentively with others – particularly people with whom you don’t usually engage.
Cannonballs
- Sometimes in the absence of data or useful experience, we’re left to act on our instincts. Entrepreneur Seth Godin says it’s worth noting that other people have instincts as well and their feelings may be right as often as yours. Just because it’s your instinct doesn’t mean it’s the best instinct.
- Executive advisor Rebecca Homkes warns against assuming in times of great uncertainty you can still come up with a great prediction of the future. That’s a delusion. Instead, acknowledge the reality of uncertainty and build a strategy around it rather than simply adjusting to it. Focus, as well, on building your decision-making capability rather than complaining, futilely predicting or kicking the can down the road.
- Good strategy doesn’t rely on assumptions. Instead, it changes them, notes change consultant Greg Satell.
Harvey Schachter is a Kingston-based writer specializing in management issues. He, along with Sheelagh Whittaker, former CEO of both EDS Canada and Cancom, are the authors of When Harvey Didn’t Meet Sheelagh: Emails on Leadership.