Finding Pockets of Flowing Water in Icy Conditions

I’ve lived in Central Minnesota next to the Mississippi River for more than 30 years. Usually, the river is iced over at this time of year and it’s hard to see even pockets of flowing water. Since I live about a mile above a dam on the river, every December, the river freezes, and then in March, it starts to flow again.  Each year, this cycle in Nature marks the entrance into winter and the subsequent start of spring.

This year, however, is different. It’s the second week of January, and as I write this, through my window, I can still see the Mississippi River flowing. Almost as if winter hasn’t begun.

There are many explanations as to why this year is different.   The El Nino is changing weather patterns, for example. Others point to climate change and/or a shift in the prevailing winds.  Whatever the precise combination of reasons, we’re experiencing temperatures that are, on average, 25 degrees above normal.  This is an unheard-of fact in the more than three decades I’ve lived here.

My latest LinkedIn newsletter reflected on water as a metaphor for leadership and provided ways to apply Nature’s lessons from the dynamics of water to our organizations. This year’s extraordinary weather experience invites me to reflect even further on how of Nature’s changing patterns can be a metaphor for organizational dynamics.

Finding flowing spaces when organizations are frozen

Today’s flowing Mississippi gives me another aspect of water that we can apply to our understanding and perceptions of bigger organizations.  Larger corporations and many non-profits are often stuck in their traditional ways of doing business. Their size and culture make them look like monolithic structures that change only very slowly. Also, these organizations are good at holding onto mindsets and practices that no longer fit their ever-changing external environment. As a result, I’m often asked –

Can larger organizations become healthy and thriving regenerative systems?

In organizations, there are always pockets within a large system that are counter-cultural, have anomalies, and/or simply do things “differently.”  We’ve all seen examples of how, even in a larger system that sees employees as assets to be exploited, great leaders can help their teams embrace values and principles that treat people with respect and dignity. In my consulting practice, I, too, come across these pockets of thriving innovation.  It excites me when I encounter a team filled with positive energy and clearly focused on their highest purpose. In the midst of often “frozen” companies, these innovative teams remind me of today’s open water on the Mississippi. In the language of our metaphor, they refuse to “ice over” despite the weather that comprises the narrative of the greater organization!

Changing our view of the big freeze

When it came to culture, I used to view organizations in a one-dimensional way. I thought the prevailing culture was the primary influencer of everyone in the organization.

Now I realize that all organizations, even those with strong, deeply embedded cultures, are much more multi-faceted under all that “ice.” There are always pockets of experimental sub-cultures within each system. Like the flowing open water of the Mississippi River this year, toxic organizations can have pockets of health.  In these pockets, individual employees and teams choose to be different from the rest. They have become counter-cultural to the toxicity of the larger system.

It’s easy to become distracted by messages coming from the big political, social, and commercial organizations that comprise our “over-culture.” When that happens, try to visualize the Mississippi River flowing in January.  Let the image serve as a metaphor for a few simple yet powerful facts:

• There are exceptions in every system.
• Countless people around the world are choosing another path, one flowing with values formed on an ethic of care.

And finally, remember that many of us – like you and me –  are working toward a future where our collective social and ecological well-being is the regenerative purpose we serve.