by Dr. Ed Brenegar | Oct 8, 2020 | Book, Circle of Impact, Ideas, Impact, Relationships, Structure, Transition
None of us see below the surface of things. We fool ourselves into believing that we understand what is going on, when we only see the shiny surface of things. As Paul Simon wrote in his great 1960s pop hit, The Boxer, “People believe what they want to believe, and disregard this rest.” If seeing is believing, then we only believe in the appearance of what we see, not the substance of it.
The structure of the modern organization is collapsing. It is crumbling from within. The structure is no longer adequate for the fast-paced world of change that we live in. In many respects, its persistence is an act of denying reality.
Professor Joseph Tainter describes collapse as “a rapid simplification of an overly complex system.” It happens because societies become good at solving problems. As a result, greater complexity occurs. What does this complexity look like?
by Dr. Ed Brenegar | May 7, 2020 | Book, Circle of Impact, Uncategorized
It is important to know what you have to offer, as I wrote about previously. However, that is not everything you need to know. At best, it is 30-40% of what you need to know.
Too many times I’ve met with someone who is trying to sell me their services, and all they tell me is what they are selling. The only offer is for me to give them my money.
Every day people connect with me online to sell me services. They is no indication of the impact that they aim to create for me. In one of those conversations, I asked one guy how he would market to people and businesses in transition. He was honest. He had no idea. He said that his firms markets to the titles in an organization.
To fully understand what you have to offer, you need to be aware of three areas that are important.
by Dr. Ed Brenegar | Apr 27, 2020 | Book, Circle of Impact, Ideas, Transition
“It is vitally important that we understand what change is. It is the living, dynamic context of our lives. Every thought, every emotion, every action, every response in a particular moment operates within a change context. Every movement, shift in perspective, or initiative taken happens within the context of change. …
I call it the speed of change.
by Dr. Ed Brenegar | Mar 30, 2020 | Circle of Impact, Community, Conversations, Impact, persistent, residual culture, Transition
In times of uncertainty, we need to turn to the values and beliefs that define us. In a social environment, whether a family or a business or a community, the same is true.
Every place creates such a culture. It is often ignored by its leadership. It is an unacknowledged belief that leaders create culture. They can, but they can only do so by destroying the culture that is already there. Maybe it is necessary if that ‘persistent, residual culture’ has been corrupted and made toxic by the loss of belief in the company’s values. I’ve seen that. It is a very difficult thing to change. It is far better to go join the culture that is there and elevate it through leadership capacity building.
One of the ways that we elevate this persistent, residual culture is by creating a story that we tell ourselves. It is a story that reminds who we are. It is a story that helps us to say Yes to the good things and No to the wrong ones.
by Dr. Ed Brenegar | Dec 14, 2019 | Book, Circle of Impact, Ideas, Impact, persistent, Relationships, residual culture, Structure, Uncategorized
Every organization has a culture. It may be a culture of competitiveness or fear. Cultures that pit people against one another are not well-positioned to address the challenges of living in the midst of transition. Most of these organizations are starved for leadership. For leadership is not simply what the senior executives may do. Rather, leadership is how people function within the context of their work. This means that the culture of the company is not a corporate initiative passed down to employees. It is rather how the company functions as a network of relationships.
Since the publication of my book, I have come to speak of these relationships as “a persistent, residual culture of values.” The values persist because they reside in the relationships of the people of the organization. As I commented to a woman who works in a company that is struggling in the midst of its own transition, “A company is not defined by its tragedies, but by the persistent, residual culture of the network of relationships that exists within the company.” To have this kind of culture requires creating a culture for leadership.
This is the fourth of four posts of excerpts from my book, Circle of Impact: Taking Personal Initiative To Ignite Change. These posts are about the transition that I see taking place within organizations in particular, and global society in general. If you or your business is in transition, you may find that many of the ideas and tactics that you used to manage change are no longer effective. You need not only a different perspective but new tools for living in the midst of a global transition of unprecedented proportions.
