About Fear and Harmony

Harmony doesn't inspire fear;

But those without it do.

It doesn't serve or compromise itself;

But those without it will.

In our current episode of The Agile Tao Podcast, we discussed fear. Talking about its roots and examining the cascading steps leading from a state of flow to a state of fear.

Fear is a common hurdle in a lot of attempts to harmonize an organization, to help it become agile, help it flow and adapt to a changing reality. Fear leads to internal conflicts and intrigues, forcing the organization to redirect much-required energy inwards, into power-struggles rather than making an impact on the world.

Where does this fear stem from?

Here is Lao-Tzu's answer.

And here is my take on it:

When the world is in its natural state, there is no expressed need. All is in place, all is in order. There is no need for innovation.

Once a need is expressed, an idea is born. an idea for a new product or service to serve this need. When someone taps to this need and decides to address it - a new business may be born. A grocery-store, an electric-car manufacturer, or a meeting-spicer :)

Have you ever been in a startup? The ones I saw are usually vibrant and full of harmony, their members, totally connected to their purpose, often complete each other's thoughts and actions, they act as one, they are in a state of flow.

High-performing teams are often like that as well, they complete each other, acting as one. Everyone does what they can to serve their shared purpose, trying to address what's needed regardless of roles and titles.

In both cases, the people working together have a high sense of belonging, their primary function is to contribute to the whole. In both cases, there is a high sense of autonomy, and a desire to make an impact.

Harmony can be lost when this autonomy is broken. It can also be lost when the goal becomes unclear, or when there is a new (often conflicting) goal. It sometimes happens a new CEO appears and the clear vision is replaced by a new one, causing a muddled direction and a misalignment between the shared employee vision and the new managerial one.

What keeps the team in place and functioning when this happens is trust, even if the goal is unclear, I can trust my peers to do their job, and I know they trust me. The social fabric maintained by this trust keeps us functioning well.

When trust breaks, we start relying on justice (also known as rules or processes); this is when an explicit rule-book, a "one way of working" takes center stage. It might have existed before, but in the absence of trust it takes center-stage. When I don't trust you to do your job, your job has to be written explicitly, so I have the legitimacy to demand it from you. I need my role to be explicitly defined as well, so I can protect myself.

In the absence of trust, informal communication channels fade, forcing us to rely on formal rules of exchange. We have to use specific forms and reports to advance and progress, bureaucracy is born.

And when justice is corrupted, when processes are exploited to serve personal interests, fear is right around the corner.

The source of fear is often the loss of clarity. In the absence of a clear and shared goal, where the process has to be followed to the letter, there is a paralyzing doubt behind every action taken.

This fear can be used by people interested in power, people who use it to gain control. Yet their actions stem from fear as well, fear of losing control, fear of becoming redundant.

Nature, Harmony, Trust, Justice, and Fear. These are Lao-Tzu's cascading energy sources of an organization

When I enter a work-place, when I attend a meeting - I can almost always smell the state the team is in.

Try this: Next time you step into a room; when you see your teams at work, perhaps even in your next meeting, take a minute and ask yourself:

Is the team in a state of harmony? of trust? do they rely on justice?

And if not, what is their energy source?

Notes:

1. The poem describes a cascading state, yet - for me - it also suggests a way up, at a state of fear - laws can be put in place. At the lack of trust, it can be injected (often in small steps), and supplying a clear goal, connecting the team to their purpose - might restore the harmony lost.
2. Though this specific poem doesn't address the ways to dissolve the fear and restore harmony - the book addresses this issue deeply. I guess you'll have to wait for future articles to address this (or read the book).
3. If you liked this article, you may like the previous one in the Agile Tao series: The End of Agility
4. This series and the podcast are inspired by The Agile Tao (Lao-Tzu Refactored), a book by Peter Merel. You can find the book, and download it for free here, and can hear my talk with Peter in this link.

And finally - a disclaimer:

All opinions expressed in this post and the podcast are our own take of the Lao-Tzu, you are free and encouraged to have your own.