Reflections on Influencing Living Systems

Our recent U.S. elections have caused me to reflect deeply on how I view political leadership and how my perspective might constrain what I can bring to the world. It’s also caused me to confront some beliefs I’ve been holding unconsciously. One of those beliefs was that if we elected a U.S. President who believes in climate change, my work on sustainable and regenerative organizational design would be easier. But this contradicts another of my beliefs:  governments will be the last to change their policies on the climate issue.

As usual, Nature has some important lessons for us. We know that Nature adapts constantly to changing conditions in the ecosystem. While Darwin is often quoted as saying that “Nature is all about survival of the fittest,” his research and related correspondence actually said this:

Darwin’s research demonstrated that DNA that successfully passes on to the next generation belongs to the species that proactively adapts to be the best fit for changing conditions.

Business Cycles vs. Government

Business sectors also have innovative cycles that occur at different rates of speed. To remain competitive, businesses (especially technology!) have to cycle at a much faster pace. Their connection to the external environment makes them more conscious of feedback. Business organizations have a greater need to adapt rapidly to feedback if they want to maintain or grow market share. In this way, the business sector acts more like Nature.

Health and education systems cycle more slowly than the business sector but still adapt faster than governments. Governments are usually the last to adapt, evolve, and eventually transform. This has forced me to confront my own sense of efficacy in an environment run by a political party that doesn’t believe in climate change.

We all hold traditional beliefs that power and policies transform our systems. But the fact is that transformation in a living, interdependent world happens in a very different way. Nature is a living system that continues to adapt and evolve regardless of what humans do. The adaptation and evolution of living systems don’t depend on what our political leaders vote on.

Simply put, our political positions can’t stop ecosystems and the species within them from evolving. All of this action happens outside of our political context. What if the same were true for all change, whether social, organizational, or ecological?

Claiming my efficacy to create a more resilient future for everyone

In today’s interdependent world, it’s not about power. Instead, our interconnected world is transformed by influence. Over the past week or so, I’ve thought about ways to align with and strengthen our individual and collective efficacy from this perspective:

• Permission to transform. When I was a vice president, I learned that some kinds of change need to be signaled by the readiness and support of the people on my staff. Traditional beliefs about power perspectives are that the person in power can do anything. In reality, there are many kinds of substantive change that need to wait for a critical mass of staff to accept the change. If a positional leader ignores this dynamic and proceeds to do what they want, resistance will build up in the system. This makes each succeeding change more difficult and eventually impossible.
• Change from many actions. Traditional views on positional power are that decisions come from the top and roll downhill in the hierarchy. Interdependence changes this rule so that actions work more like tipping points. If enough individual actors work on similar or adjacent purposes, they can collectively create evolution within a system no matter who or what is in power. As we know from the butterfly effect, individual actions influence and ripple throughout an interdependent system to eventually reshape the system.
• Doing our part. I can and must continue to create conditions conducive to evolution. I don’t need a political leader to offer permission or affirm that my actions matter. Instead, I need to follow my purpose. A life purpose is found in the space between your individual gifts and the deep need that exists in the world or community you are connected to. Nothing on a political level has the power to interfere with that purpose or work.

People who only see political power have bought into the myth that power can control others and the system. But Nature and its species, including humans, can’t be controlled over time because the living system is always evolving. Strategies designed to control a system at one point in time will immediately start eroding as the system adapts and changes.

Living systems are always dynamically evolving and, at their core, uncontrollable. When we focus on this broader system view, we see that by combining our individual actions, we can change the world!

Writing this blog has helped me articulate why my work matters to me and to those I serve. It has also helped me reclaim my capacity to influence the world for future generations. I don’t need to seek approval or permission or have the “right” people in power to continue this important work.

And neither do you.