Relational Awareness
“The quality of results produced by any system depends on the quality of the awareness from which people in the system operate.”
How Do Organizations Change?
When a board of directors is disappointed with results, they typically push for one of the following actions:
- Change of leadership
- Change of strategy
- Reorganization
There is a time and place for each of these interventions, but there is also an embedded linear perspective that does not always create results in a complex environment. The implication is, if we create a “cause” (i.e. new CEO, new agency, new structure), there will likely be a favorable “effect” (better outcomes).
The Dynamics “In Between”
Survey results reveal employees are mostly disengaged. Dig deeper into the data, and you’ll learn it’s not necessarily about pay, career paths, or job security. Employees often do not feel valued, or in other words, the relationship is not prioritized.
New leaders, new strategies, and new organizational structures can all result in better results IF there is the relational support between the organization and its leadership, employees, stakeholders, customers, etc to facilitate the change.
Developing awareness and exploring the relational dynamics – the “in between” or gaps – among parts of the organization is a way to discover where the value is flowing. We encourage a number of practices to start developing this awareness, and have developed GapMapping™ to give you a jump start.
