Bending or Breaking

The storms this week have reminded me of a conversation many years ago, as i was stood in a Big Top tend during a gale. The central pole was bending and creaking, and i was quite concerned about the danger, but the experience rigger i stood next to told me that he was unconcerned, as long as he could hear the creaking. Creaking meant that the pole was just moving and bending as intended. Silence meant that it was about to break.

How accurate that was i never found out, but i took the point on board: trees do not weather the storm by staying still but rather by moving. They steal some of the energy out of the wind by so doing, and return it as they whip back again. The tree does not bend on the pathway to breaking, it bends to avoid it.

There is something in here about Organisations: the extent to which they seek to hold strength in rigidity, or through flexibility, and the delusion that strength is always a matter of might.

As we re-imagine our Organisations, the ways that we learn and lead, are effective and change, are fair and purposeful, we should remember that fluid movement is a design feature we may wish to embrace.