On Disruption
By now, many leaders I work with have resigned themselves to the fact that normal, the consistent drumbeat of things prior to 2020, is not coming back.
Perhaps, like they, you are marking days in an in-between time, feeling for and guessing at what patterns and rhythms will emerge. As if when we turned the corner into 2021, it would bring some order and relief. It wouldn’t be the good ol’ days but maybe it would bring a sense of “the new normal”— a different rhythm to which we could align.
And why wouldn’t we think this? We all love a good consistent beat. It allows us to set and measure expectations; differentiate success from failure; pursue purpose with clear sight lines; and when we get very good at predicting with it, it affords us the illusion of control.
This is hopeful thinking – it would be great! But I don’t believe it to be realistic.
I believe that 2010s were the preview that built momentum, and 2020 was a premiere. Our lifetime movie is called Disruption, and it is going to have a long run.
While interruption is a break in continuity, disruption is the breaking apart or into pieces. Disruption is uncomfortable, even painful, but it is not bad (or good necessarily); it simply is.
For you, a leader, the question is not about overcoming, out-maneuvering, or resisting. Instead, three questions should guide your thinking in these disruptive days.
1. Given this disruptive context, how do we clarify and affirm the organization’s purpose while adapting how we pursue it?
2. Given this disruptive context, what are the emerging frameworks and measures of success that align to our purpose?
3. Given this disruptive context, what enduring needs and drives of our people need to be met in new and evolving ways?
Over the next weeks, we will look at each of these questions as well as some strategies and practices that may help as you navigate these breaking apart times.
