Changing... working with unknowns

Last week I spent a day with a fabulous group of middle to senior leaders who are involved in a major organisational merger. Involved is a word that is too objective and distanced to describe their experiences. Terms such as embroiled, entangled, or enmeshed may be better terms.

The organisation is changing at such a pace that some team members are feeling threatened by potential (and as yet unknown) changes. Most are working beyond the realms of their usual role in terms of scope and time on the job. The priorities are unclear. What is most important? Everyone is tired. And there is another 12-24 months to go yet.

They ask their managers, but they don't always have useful answers either.

They are in the space of not knowing - not even knowing what they don't know.

In my experience in working with teams and organisations through change, the way forward in these situations is to:

• Be clear about your shared vision (at a level of values) and purpose. This can be the organisational version, or you may develop a shared version for your own team. (And have a conversation about how the team version connects to and reflects the higher-order, more strategic version the organisation is pursuing, too.)
• Remain connected to your vision and purpose. This will help you reprioritise and decide what to do now. It will also assist energise you and your team.
• As a team, stand back and notice the patterns and overall direction that are emerging. Are they working towards your vision and purpose, or not?
• Existing (or past) roles are usually unclear and insufficient in times of change like this, so be open to moving outside your normal role and position descriptions. Notice what you think needs to be done.
• Communicate and help your team devise experiments to try out what you think may work.
• Focus on debriefing experiments with a simple set of questions like: What did you intend to do? What happened? What did you learn about your vision/purpose, the experiment, yourselves, and the organisation?
• What does this learning mean now? Devise the next experiment...

One thing we often forget is that no one knows the answers in situations like this. We can look upwards to those in higher positions of authority, but they don't know either. They are relying on everyone to find the way forward.

What's your experience in changing... the way we work with unknowns?

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