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Leading Through�Prolonged Ambiguity

Unit 4

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Dead fish go with the flow. Live fish swim against the current.

So it is with conscience and courage. So it is with the children of Abraham. They are prepared to challenge the idols of the age.

�Rabbi Sacks�(Lessons in Leadership, p. 15)

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Adaptive challenges tend to take a long time to solve

Leadership work in this environment involves patience, partnerships, and managing the “heat” - lowering it when it gets too high, and raising it when it gets too low

Change happens in the productive zone of disequilibrium - leadership work involves supporting people in that zone

We need to build our own capacity for ambiguity and discomfort, for not knowing, in order to be effective in our leadership work

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v

THE PRODUCTIVE ZONE

Heat�Disequilibrium

High

Low

LIMIT OF TOLERANCE

THRESHOLD OF CHANGE

Productive Zone

Time

  • Progress
  • Purpose
  • Engagement

Work Avoidance

Adaptive

Technical / Procedural

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To Raise the Temperature...

To Lower the Temperature...

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To Raise the Temperature...

To Lower the Temperature...

  • Draw attention to the tough questions
  • Offer multiple interpretations, pushing towards systemic, adaptive, and more vulnerable, emotional interpretations
  • Give people more responsibility than they’re comfortable with
  • Bring conflicts to the surface
  • Tolerate/make provocative comments
  • Name and use some of the dynamics in the room to illustrate the issues facing the group
  • Address the aspects of the conflict that have the most obvious and technical solutions
  • Provide structure by breaking the problem into parts and creating time frames, decision rules, and role assignments
  • Temporarily reclaim responsibility for the tough issues
  • Employ work avoidance mechanisms, such as taking a break, telling a joke or story, or doing an exercise
  • -Slow down the process of challenging norms and expectations

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Leadership challenges us to develop an ability to go towards the pain.

The idols protect us from the pain from the truth that God is in and out.

A faith-filled life is painful. Idols numb that. But then you lose the beauty of transcendence.

  1. What does “going towards the pain” feels like? 
  2. What are your “go to idols”�to numb the pain? 
  3. What helps you when you are�“in the heat” - what helps you stay productive and open? 

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Next time you are aware of “heat rising,” of people getting emotional, or conflict surfacing, notice:

  • Your own natural inclination of response - do you naturally lean towards fixing things and making everyone feel good? Or is your inclination to stay silent and not get involved?
  • What might you experiment with to challenge yourself and others around you to “stay in the heat” for the sake of your purpose? What might that look like? Try something that raises the temperature and makes your heart beat a bit faster, and then reflect on it afterwards with a friend or in writing.

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UNIT LESSON SUMMARY: 

Change isn’t immediate.

It requires work, time, patience, and, often, loss.