Evolutionary Provocateur

The Simple Nature of Performance

Steve Roesler's simple example over at All Things Workplace illustrates how easy performance is. A couple of things come to mind:
1. People want to contribute. Motivation is not necessary. Inspiration is all that is required.
2. Performance follows joy as Nick Zeniuk my colleague from SoL puts it. When employees are given the freedom to express their talents...they do.
3. Performance is fueled by personal spirit. Personal spirit, as noted in other places in this blog, is made of the state of a person's outlook, initiative and sense of control. Unless repression has been the rule of the day, expression shows up as initiative ... taking charge and making things happen.

In general when people are not clear, the actions need to be done again. In many working environments the value is over being busy. Simple focus on clarity of purpose can clear the path to results by reducing the range of possibility down to what to focus on.

In a world of massive information overload, being clear about what you are trying to achieve and why creates the ground for focused and collective action. Sounds simple enough. To achieve it means giving more trust and letting go of the need to control.

The simple nature of performance cycles back to self mastery. Personal growth and development or personal mastery...call it what you want... is about the capacity to observe oneself in action and insert a decision between the impulse and that action so that the choice to intervene or let go is made as a conscious choice. Trusting in talent is what it is all about.

Who the Bleep Are You?

The sign on the surf shop window reads: It is only after you have lost everything that you are free to do anything.

Not everyone would see it that way. Job loss, divorce and other life changing events create openings where the freedom to create the life you want to lead emerges. Not everyone sees it that way though. Some freeze in the frame of lost identity. Some see themselves as victims of external forces beyond their control.

What this points to is an opportunity to be aware of how your outlook on life shapes your reality and then to develop the flexibility to adapt when things change unexpectedly.

Most people leave a large part of themselves at home when they go to work. Some are defined by work. What defines You?

The 11th Hour Documentary

Leonardo De Caprio's doc film is out in LA at least, opening in Canada next week. It presents a sobering reminder of the impact that the human species has had on the planet in a very short period of time and makes the imperative for change exceptionally clear.

The film follows An Inconvenient Truth which was instrumental in elevating broader awareness of global warming and its impact. The conscious revolution is underway.

My friend and colleague Cory Herter and Joshua Wenner of A Perfect Wave have recognized that there are many people now engaging in intentional acts and have set up a website called www.consciousrevolution.com It should be launched sometime this week.

The question still remains: What role will business play in charting a future with hope?  Market forces run on greed and a psychopathic nature, as The Corporation documented, must change. There are some great companies doing great things yet there are also huge companies operating on ancient mindsets totally out of touch with the world forces and often with their own employees. I have met many people; most are ex-corporate turned entrepreneur and show no interest in returning.

What will it take for big business to see that there is a different reality emerging...one that requires expanding the definition of profit to include contribution to community? Any observations?

Passion with a Purpose

Tom Voccola at CEO2 is on a mission. As a CEO of five companies so far, Tom has figured out that the real opportunity lies in being tuned into what matters for you. There are lots of executives who, if they grasped this for themselves, would not be wondering how to engage and keep their employees.

I just spent 3 days in a workshop with Tom working on my purpose and passion statement. Are you ready?

Mastering the Invisible-Connection to the Web of Life

Through compassion, intuitively sensing into all levels of energetic reality and a knack for making connections I help myself and others bring the invisible to the surface and convert it to clarity, creativity and expanded contribution.

Tom's work is incredibly important right now to corporations whose level of self-knowledge is low to non-existent. This is true also for the people in it. Since tacit knowledge is THE strategic asset to corporate achievement, then companies must engage the passion and purpose of themselves to create the culture necessary to nurture.

Tom and his wife Francis can be found at www.ceo2.com. What is your relationship with your passion for work and your purpose in life?

Butterflies and Cultural Revolution

There is a conscious revolution going on under the nose of corporate executives. They are a part of it, yet may or may not know their part.

The announcement of the extinction of the baiji dolphin of China yesterday marks the demise of a species that has lived on this planet for more than 20 million years. It has survived many of the ups and downs of earth's evolutionary life but when man came along, it could not reproduce fast enough to replace itself as its ecosystem was destroyed and its numbers reduced through fishing.

Contrast that to the butterflies tale. These butterflies are rare and live on the Samoan isalnds of Savaii and Upolu. In 2001, 1% were male. The Blue Moon or 'Great Eggfly' males were under attack by a bacterial parasite that wiped them out before they hatched. Lousy way to start.

By last year the species had developed a genetic mutation that suppressed the bacteria, giving males a chance. As one of the clear and rapid cases of evolution, we have a role model for what is required as homo sapiens.

The corporate equivalent surrounds the question of maintaining the old command and control style, or replacing it with an employee driven more organic culture. The signals are up close and personal. Executive and employee burn out, anxiety attacks, overwhelm, ethical breaches signal the warning signs. Turning attention to passion, purpose and regaining integrity are the signs of hope. The task must be to realign oneself with all aspects of ones identity in order to contribute the level of innovation and creative talent required to collectively lead to higher and better solutions....for the good of all.

What do you see?

Personal Growth and Butterflies

A comment on David Maister's blog mentions the need for courage and conviction with reference to doing what you know you need to when it comes to organizational or personal change. Too right. But when people are not able to follow through does this mean that they did not have the courage or conviction. Usually not. In my facilitation experience i have seen teams formulate actions that would choke a snake,dir whose mouth can open pretty wide. When the actions did not get followed up on, blame abounds when really, it was the size of the task in relationship to the energy required to complete it that was mismatched.

To assume that the mismatch is a conscious one is pretty misleading. Lots of times the intentions are good, the logic is sound, but the one element that gets forgotten is the deeper level of growth and readiness that drives forward movement. In companies where initiative has been stifled, why take the risk. Most of this sits beneath the surface, well concealed.

The level of leadership required now demands a high level of attunement and conscious awareness into detecting the incongruencies as signals and then connecting the signals into a larger dynamic. The courage and conviction is applied then to developing increased personal and organizational awareness which, as Steve Roesler, points out no one wants to do alone. Nor should they. These are times when the collective efforts are the only way to forge hope for the future as another species bites the dust.

What signals do you see and what do you see as the larger dynamic that allows a collective shift of direction? Stay tuned for the butterflies in the next post.