Stormy Weather

Monday was a day of great climatic change in Minneapolis. It started unseasonably hot and humid at about 80 degrees, and with a glorious ‘red sky in the morning’ that foreshadowed a big seasonal change later in the day.

By midday the storm clouds were massing, winds were whipping, small animals and birds were scurrying about purposefully and the distant rumbles of thunder could be just heard.

By late afternoon the heavens opened, clouds burst, and we were greeted with an enormous storm that lasted over 12 hours. It was so dramatic it got in the way of everything else, driving was treacherous, dogs hid, and the lightning flashes and booms of thunder were impossible to ignore. A decisive and deliberate end to summer. The temperature dropped over 30 degrees.

Weather and organizations are similar. They appear to be unpredictable but actually they’re not. Signs of impending change often broadcast themselves widely for all to see, but often we sleep-through-the-sunrise, too busy or distracted to pay attention to the early indicators all around us.

And then the storm clouds gather, and those who don’t want change keep looking at the thin slivers of remaining light that signify the ‘good old days’ when things were sunny and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. "If I can just keep looking back perhaps the future won’t happen".

And then the winds of change start whipping. Things which had been permanently moored in position start moving, sometimes very quickly, and in directions we don’t expect. Executives and HR leaders scurry from closed meeting room to closed meeting room. Blinds are drawn, and schedules get blasted.

And then the change breaks, perhaps first just a few drops and then a deluge as reality sets in. Everyone is on edge and put out, business as usual can’t continue amidst the flashes and crashes. We look out to assess the damage, see what of ours is broken or missing and start counting the cost.

And the organizational temperature changes, sometimes precipitously.

Of course, we have choices when preparing for climatic and organizational change. We can keep abreast of the signs by paying attention to environmental and internal factors. We can put on new or different clothing by updating our skill sets and becoming more relevant to the way the wind is blowing. We can ensure our teams are ready by having a 'change preparedness plan' and talking in advance about what might happen and how we want to deal with it. We could move somewhere else where the climate is more to our liking.

Or we could do nothing.

What’s the weather like where you are, and what are you going to do about it?