December 2010 CPYF Dialogue Newsletter: The Three Laws of Performance
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1 December 2010 This month's newsletter focuses on key takeaways from the book The Three Laws of Performance by Steve Zaffron and David Logan who offer an answer to: How can conversations enable organizations & leaders to rewrite the future? Law 1: How People Perform Correlates to How Situations Occur To Them. A person's experience includes one's view of the past (why things are the way they are) & the future (where things are going). Facilitators cultivate awareness in participants about their own subjectivity through open‐ended questions that invite insight in to how we interpret situations. Continue inquiring & reflecting until the actions of the "other" are understood to be reasonable from the actor's point of view. Law 2: How a Situation Occurs Arises in Language. "Language" includes spoken & written communication, body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, images, music, appearance and any actions with symbolic intent. The unsaid is the most important part of language. But when unsaid & communicated without awareness, language becomes linguistic clutter, such as: assumptions, expectations, disappointments, resentments, regrets, interpretations, significance and issues that feel dangerous. The key to performance is not pushing new conversations about strategy or reorganization into an already cluttered space. Articulating the unsaid ‐ that's when space begins to open up.
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Transcript of December 2010 CPYF Dialogue Newsletter: The Three Laws of Performance
- 1. December 2010ThismonthsnewsletterfocusesonkeytakeawaysfromthebookTheThreeLawsofPerformancebySteveZaffronandDavidLoganwhoofferananswerto: Howcanconversationsenableorganizations&leaderstorewritethefuture?Law1:HowPeoplePerformCorrelatestoHowSituationsOccurToThem.Apersonsexperienceincludesonesviewofthepast(whythingsarethewaytheyare)&thefuture(wherethingsaregoing).Facilitatorscultivateawarenessinparticipantsabouttheirownsubjectivitythroughopenendedquestionsthatinviteinsightintohowweinterpretsituations. Continueinquiring&reflectinguntiltheactionsofthe"other"areunderstoodtobereasonablefromtheactorspointofview.Law2:HowaSituationOccursArisesinLanguage. "Language"includesspoken&writtencommunication,bodylanguage,facialexpressions,toneofvoice,images,music,appearanceandanyactionswithsymbolicintent. Theunsaidisthemostimportantpartoflanguage. Butwhenunsaid&communicatedwithoutawareness,languagebecomeslinguisticclutter,suchas:assumptions,expectations,disappointments,resentments,regrets,interpretations,significanceandissuesthatfeeldangerous.Thekeytoperformanceisnotpushingnewconversationsaboutstrategyorreorganizationintoanalreadyclutteredspace. Articulatingtheunsaidthatswhenspacebeginstoopenup. 1
2. 2Recognizingthe"unsaid"beginswithoneself: (1) Beawareofthetalkingvoiceinsideyourhead. Itslooptracktakesupmuchofyourawareness. (2) Beawareofyourown"rackets":Acomplaintthathaspersistedforsometime;Apatternofbehaviorthatgoes alongwiththecomplaint;Apayoffforhavingthecomplaintpersist;Acostfor thisbehavior. Thepayoff&costareevidentintherealmofunsaid&unaware. Nametheracket&recognizethathowasituationoccurstoapersonisexactlywhatholdshim/herbackfrombreakthroughperformance. Whenyounametheunsaid,atfirstthesituationsoundsabsurd;thenyounaturallythinkofwaystoclearitout. Thelearninghereis:namewhatisunsaidanddealwithit.Law3:FuturebasedLanguageTransformsHowSituationsOccurtoPeople.Peopleliveintothefuturetheyperceivecomingatthem. This"defaultfuture"ismadeupofonesexpectations,fears,hopes,andpredictions,allofwhicharebasedonpastexperiences.Futurebased(generative)languagecreatesafuturetoreplacethedefault. Recognizethatfactsdonotconstrainpeople,languagedoes. Namethedefaultfutureandask,dowereallywantthisasourfuture? Completeunresolvedissuesfromthepast. Completingmeansmovingitfromthedefaultfutureintothepastsotheissuenolongerdrivesonesactionsnorcontinuestocolorhowsituationsoccurtoaperson. Then,envisionwithotherswhatfuturewouldinspireactionforeveryone. Addresstheconcernsofeveryoneinvolved,andberealinthemomentofspeaking. Whenyouhaveasharedvisionpeoplewillnaturallyselforganizetorealizeit.LeadershipthatarisesfromtheThreeLawsofPerformancehasthepowertorewritethefutureofanorganization. Theauthorscalltheseperspectives"leadershipcorollaries".LeadershipCorollary1:Leadershaveasay,andgiveothersasay,inhowsituationsoccur.Leaderswhoempowerotherstorewrite&realizefuturescantransformanysituation,nomatterhowseeminglyimpossible. Askyourselfthefollowingquestions:HowcanIinteractwithotherssothatsituationsoccurmoreempoweringtothem?Whatprocesses,dialogues,ormeetingscanIarrangesothatpeoplefeellikecoauthorsofanewfuture,notmerelyrecipientsofadefaultfuture? LeadershipCorollary2: Leadersmastertheconversationalenvironment Whatmakesthemostdifficultsituationsbecomemalleablearetheconversationsthatexist,orcanexist,inanorganization. Formostorganizations,thenetworkofconversationisnoisy,conflictedandfilledwithchatterdescribingadefaultfuture. Thisconversationalenvironmentmakesnew&differentfuturesdifficulttoimagine. Twoelementsneededforaconversationalenvironmenttoachievebreakthroughperformanceare: 3. anongoing,companywidecommitmenttoresolvingincompletion implantingintegrity.Integritycreatesaconditionofworkability.(Withoutit,effectivenessisdiminishedanddisplacedbybrokenpromisesandalackofaccountability.) LeadershipCorollary3: LeaderslistenforthefutureoftheirorganizationLeaderscreateconversationscomposedoffuturebasedlanguage. Theseconversationsinventfuturesfortheorganizationthatpreviouslydidnotexist. However,leadersdonotrewritethefuturebythemselves. Theycreatethespaceandprovidethelisteningforthatfuture. Conclusion:CreatingaSelfLedOrganizationHonoringonesword(integrity)createscompletesocialandworkingrelationshipswhichprovidesanactionablepathwaytoearningthetrustofothers. Apersonwhoactsinthiswayis"Selfled." Self,withacapitalS,representsafullintegrationofallpartsofaperson;itarisesinlanguageandthroughconversations. ASelfledorganizationiscreatedbystakeholdersparticipationintheorganizationsconversationalecology. Thisnetworkofconversationsenableorganizationstocontinuallyrewritethefutureandbydoingsoareabletoadapttotheinevitableoscillationsofbusinessandlife! Throughconversation,theorganizationsSelfemergesthisisthecollectiveessenceofhowstakeholdersviewafuturethatinspiresandfulfillstheirconcerns. Theconversationalenvironmentneedstoincludeintegrity&futurebasedcommunicationinorderfornewfuturestoemerge. Onceleadersenablestakeholdersalignmentalongdeclarationsaboutthenewfutureofthecompany,managerscanthenbuildsystems,processes,policiesandprocedurestoturnthedeclarationsintoreality. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12 12 SteveZaffronandDavidLogan, 3 4. 4 ()() (1)(2) 5. (1)(2) ( )()/ 5
