Leaders Today Must Be Master Capacity Builders
Continuous Transformation for the Future: The Power of Language
How do you think of something if there is no word to describe it?
Leaders need to learn a new terminology to help prepare for the future. Very simply: we are both limited and liberated by our language.
We can become fluid in the language we know that describes the concepts and tools we already use, but what about the limitations? Often times we cannot or will not think beyond the words and concepts we already know. Old words and old phrases that are readily understood explain a time gone by and were developed for an Industrial Society based on hierarchies, standard rules and linear thinking.
In this time of historical transformation, our society is morphing into a structure of networks, webs and non-linear dynamics. The old language does not fit the new realities as our society grows more complex and interactive—connecting and disconnecting peoples, organizations and ideas at will. The coming age requires leaders who understand the need to “uplearn” and function at a higher level of complexity and competence.
How do you think of something if there is no word to describe it?
Leaders need to learn a new terminology to help prepare for the future. Very simply: we are both limited and liberated by our language.
We can become fluid in the language we know that describes the concepts and tools we already use, but what about the limitations? Often times we cannot or will not think beyond the words and concepts we already know. Old words and old phrases that are readily understood explain a time gone by and were developed for an Industrial Society based on hierarchies, standard rules and linear thinking.
In this time of historical transformation, our society is morphing into a structure of networks, webs and non-linear dynamics. The old language does not fit the new realities as our society grows more complex and interactive—connecting and disconnecting peoples, organizations and ideas at will. The coming age requires leaders who understand the need to “uplearn” and function at a higher level of complexity and competence.
It’s like looking for a problem you don’t know you have,
and the answer keeps changing before you can find it.
How can we prepare for what we don’t know?
We need different words and concepts to free us from the parts of the past that will not fit the future, and provide us a way to adapt quickly to the unknown. It’s like looking for a problem you don’t know you have, and the answer keeps changing before you can find it.
Take a look at the terminology below as we learn to transform your leadership as a Master Capacity Builder.
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One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. ― Plato We are not in the same boat. We are in different boats but the same storm. —Damian Barr The internet started in 1969 as a weak signal. 20 years later in 1989, the world wide web was built into the internet making it a Complex Adaptive System with organic growth, parallel processing and multiple access points into a disruptive innovation we rely upon today. —Mack Arrington You can’t run a free society if you hate everybody you disagree with — Bill Clinton |
Leadership: Traditional vs. Transformative
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Traditional
Focused on short-term outcomes Quantified accountability Goal/objective oriented Linear thinking Organized hierarchies Present oriented Strategic Planning Projects initiated Less talk, more action Single factor thinking |
Futures Context/Transformative
Focused on building capacities for new ways of thinking/acting over time Accountability through innovation Connections, ideas, relationship oriented Non-linear thinking Organized by webs/networks Futures oriented Adaptive Planning Projects spun from dialogue More talk, bolder action Systemic thinking |