Tag Archives: leadership

On being a ‘hard done to’ bottom


Learning is a funny thing isn’t it? – The things you remember and then those things you don’t. I’ve had my learning muscles tested recently as part of my Organisational Development Practitioner Programme which I chose to do as part of my Florence Nightingale Foundation Burdett Leadership Scholarship. My instinct was right, by the way, there is much useful learning in OD for people interested in leadership. I know that some of the theories passed me by and weren’t retained in my pooh bear sized brain but some things have stuck and some of the systems thinking from this week has definitely stuck; it’s all about tops, bottoms and middles.

organisationsThe theory is quite simple; people in organisations adopt very predictable patterns of behaviour and that breaking out of these is what we need to do before we can really achieve but of course changing behaviours is a real challenge for all of us. Systems thinking is from work by Barry Oshry that explains that organisations are broken down into ‘Tops’, ‘Middles’ and ‘Bottoms’ and that each of these, naturally as part of a system, moves back to unhelpful behaviours that create many of the organisational issues we face. This week we did the organisational workshop to experience the system workings of organisational life in a way designed to magnify these natural and unhelpful behaviours that manifest in the worlds of Tops, Middles and Bottoms; before you say you are never a ‘Top’ etc we all occupy these roles at one time or another, they do not necessarily reflect organisational status (but they might). I had great fun 🙂

The process of allocation to a role in the workshops was random and I was delighted to find myself as a ‘bottom’. That’s where the fun started! I have to say that although in my role I wasn’t unhelpful nor was I as focussed at first as I should have been and I did revert to the behaviours that Oshry would have predicted, for me this was to withdraw to almost a playful space. I was experiencing true ‘bottomness’.

Those of you who have done the organisational workshop will understand significance of this picture :)

Those of you who have done the organisational workshop will understand significance of this picture 🙂

Oshry predicts that people will revert to an unhelpful behaviour and unless we can break from this we will perpetuate the same issues over and over again. Tops at times of pressure suck up responsibility and become ‘burdened’. Middles slide into the middle between tops and bottoms and become weak and ‘torn’. Bottoms hold higher ‘ups’ responsible and become ‘oppressed’. Oshry also explains that Customers also fall into a pattern of unhelpful behaviour where they become ‘righteously done-to’.

Sure enough, as the great workshop panned out, all of these behaviours were exhibited. My bottomness centred on a feeling of no one telling me anything and therefore I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing so along with my mates we had a grand old time – playfulness as withdrawal.

Oshry goes on to explain that we chose how we behave and that these patterns do not need to persist – we can chose to be different.

Partnership is the key and changing and transforming our relationships can stop these behaviours and stop recreating the organisational patterns.

‘Partnership

A relationship in which we are jointly committed to the success of whatever project, process or endeavour we are in.’

Partnership 2We can chose to be part of what he describes as the ‘side show’ where we make up stories about it and evaluate others as malicious, insensitive and incompetent or we can take the centre ring and have understanding and empathy for others, staying focussed on the best outcome and take a wider view where you take into account the perspective of others. Tops should take a position where they focus on developing responsibility throughout whole organisation. Middles should maintain independence of thought and act in service of the whole system. Bottoms should take responsibility not only for their thing but also for the whole thing.

I think I recognise Oshry’s organisation in many places I have been in my career, where ‘stuff’ happens and I also recognise my own unhelpful behaviours in those he describes. I can also adopt some of the more helpful behaviours that move to a better position of partnership. If you ever get chance to do the organisational workshop I would recommend you jump at it; it certainly fits with my experiential model of learning.

There is no way I will forget being a hard done to bottom and also the need to stop those old behaviours developing, even without thought, and I will try to take a more helpful partnership position.

You can find out more about the organisational workshop and Barry Oshry here and here.

Go on, reach out and build your networks!


I’ve always liked to get to know people and stay connected. My Myers Briggs type is ENTJ and my most extreme preference is extroversion – I know I’m a sociable animal. When you have those preferences it’s easy to under play the value of networks, after all connecting, learning and sharing are second nature to me and it’s how I stretch myself too; making sure I have interesting conversations that make me think. It’s also good fun.Myers Briggs

But as leaders in a system where it feels more complex and harder to achieve what we need to do than ever before, networking to share ideas and co-create solutions must be part of the future. Relationships that bridge organisational boundaries and stretch us to acquire new perspectives and look at things in new ways must surely be part of our future?

Networking sometimes has a bad reputation. That funny look people give you when you say you are meeting someone for coffee, a sort of ‘nudge, nudge wink, wink’ and a ‘tapping on the side of the nose’ as if to say – ah you are off for a quick skive or you must be job hunting. That’s not how I see it and how it works for me. I see meeting people and getting to know them part of my knowledge network; it enables me to stop worrying about not knowing so much but knowing others who do, or who think differently, or have different experience to me. My brain sometimes feels full-up and not able to absorb more – I need to share brains through my networks. You know the old AA advert ‘But I know a man who can’. 

Networks are also brilliant for finding people to test my madcap ideas on – it sometimes takes someone to say to me – whoa! Hold that thought right there!

nurture

 

You need to nurture and grow your networks, they don’t just arrive, and once you have them they need loving care and attention.

 

 

Here are my top 10 tips for developing and growing your networks:

  • Always be genuinely interested in people and what they have to say
  • Find common ground and share what you know too – it’s not a one way street
  • Try to stay connected as much as you can – close connections need more of your energy than loose ones but both need your attention
  • Always try to give as much as you take – generous spirits tend to be good networkers
  • Only promise what you can deliver
  • Build trust and mutual respect and keep at it
  • Never, ever, ask for anything that you know is wrong, however good the relationship
  • Use social media to connect and share
  • Share your connections – you will extend your networks this way
  • Enjoy yourself and relax!

Leeds connected coffeeI recently had the very great pleasure of meeting Phil Jewitt @philjewitt from Leeds City Council as my NHS Change Day pledge for Leeds Connected Coffee. A great example of networking; we both come from very different professional backgrounds but we found much common ground and I feel sure I will be meeting Phil again  and I wouldn’t hesitate to ask his advice on local authority stuff! If we are to connect across systems it is the people who can do this, not sterile organisational structures – so go on, reach out and build your networks!

Finally have a look at this short RSA film about where good ideas come from and spot how networking might play a role here too 🙂 Its a good watch too!

 

Where is your change preference?


figure headSometimes life throws you an opportunity to explore something new or even explode things you thought you knew. Often you think you know what enthuses you but then you surprise yourself; I once surprised myself white-water rafting in the Ottawa River – I was like the figure-head on the front of a ship, holding on bravely – but I digress! This time it was a new opportunity to explore and expand some knowledge.  As part of my Florence Nightingale Foundation Burdett Scholarship I have been very lucky to spend some time at Roffey Park  and a few weeks ago I was there looking at change management.

So we looked at a number of theoretical change models. That was interesting enough; I knew some and was less familiar with others. Then the interesting bit started, we tried putting them along a scale according to what I have termed humanist > mechanistic approaches. What I call humanist are what is termed ‘relational’ where enabling techniques like World Café, Future Search and Appreciative Inquiry have their place. At the opposite end of the spectrum was more mechanistic project management type approaches, that are less messy and are organised in a more logical flow led by theorists such as Lewin and to a degree Kotter; they have a more linear and analytical style with techniques like business process mapping and lean methodology. Of course the scale is not a scientific one and it is matter of personal interpretation and perspective.

change

I had a sudden moment of clarity. The process of learning led me to think about my personal preferences and how I liked to think about change. I discovered that although I see that different approaches have different strengths and weaknesses, I had a personal preference for the type of approach to change that I liked to be involved in. I also saw that not only had I personal preference for any approach to change, that I worked in organisations that equally had a culture with a leaning towards an approach, and finally that there was an opportunity for discomfort and tension in this.

BridgesMy favourite model was a new one to me and is a model called ‘Transition Management’ based on the work by William Bridges. It refocuses change into transition, which is the psychological transition and reorientation required in response to change. I loved the idea that before we can transition we need to address endings and then we inevitably experience a neutral zone, a period of chaos and an in-between time. Then the process of renewal starts. I loved the language of this model. Words like: endings, relationships, resistance, disorientation, beginnings and new identity. If you want to know about Bridges have a look at this article here.

Gant chartSo, I like a particular approach to change but I work in an area that clearly can’t use that approach, you can’t introduce new software using appreciative inquiry – you need good Gantt charts plenty of them! If you work in the large scale programmes I work in you are nobody if you don’t have a Gant chart or a RAG status!  But I survive there despite my preferences – I had to think hard about why!

My conclusion was that I am able to see that its appropriateness that matters most and having people around who have the skills to use the right approach. Organisational development people are not one-trick ponies they need to be able to work out what is the best way and then use it. I’m just glad that with my preferences for relational models of change I work with some great people who have skills at the other end of my change spectrum – It made me think about difference and value it even more!

At a time where there is a need for unprecedented change in the NHS, understanding our personal preferences and leanings as well as the embedded culture of organisations and their almost instinctive responses to the need for change has to be important learning.

standing out from crowd