28 May The Lion, the Dog and the Stick
Ok bet I had you with the subject line? You were wondering what the heck is in Izzo’s mind now, talking about dogs, lions and sticks?
As the proud pet parent of two Golden Doodles, I know they both love sticks. If you throw it, they’re heading towards the stick at breakneck speed. I, the stick thrower, am but a small afterthought — it is the stick that interests them.
But what happens if you throw a stick in front of a lion? Fetch! Well, having spent some time around lions in Uganda, I can say it probably isn’t a very good idea. But what if you did? What you would discover is that the lion has little interest in the stick. The lion will turn and look at you. They aren’t all that interested in the stick; they want to find out the source of the stick because whatever is going on—lions seek the source of that important happening.
We discussed this metaphor in my latest podcast episode with Otto Scharmer from M.I.T. who has, like myself, been a student of systems thinking for most of his career. When you are thinking in systems, the result may be interesting but THE SOURCE which created the result is what really matters.
This is true in our lives, true for us as leaders, true for the organizations we lead and true for the societies we live in.
Why am I reacting this way to this person or situation, perhaps with anger? The person or situation is the stick but my history and how I see the world, how I interpret the actions of others, my own self-esteem and my other internal factors all comprise the source.
Why is our organization producing less than stellar results? The results are the stick but our culture, our relationships with our customers, our values, and our way of working– these are the sources.
Why is our society so polarized? The rants on social media and the inability to come together to solve problems are the stick, but the source is much deeper. On this one, it’s difficult to pinpoint the source but there are multiple factors. We mostly seek biased information from people who agree with us, and we rarely listen deeply to others, especially not those we disagree with. The personalities in media and politics today gain popular attention by feeding off dissent and division, and by giving them audience, we let them brew conflict instead of meaningful discussion. We cannot become less polarized without looking at the source of division, because that’s where the answer lies.
Scharmer grew up on a regenerative farm in Germany long before farms were labelled as such, they just were. His father told him that everything came back to the soil, that good soil produced good crops.
We tend to not focus on the source or the soil because it’s hard work. Looking at oneself requires deep attention, looking honestly at our culture and relationships requires soul searching and trying to find the roots of polarization is a lot more difficult than ranting at each other or complaining about the symptom.
In the weeks and months ahead, every time you become aware of a result, person, situation or system that isn’t to your liking – take your eye off the stick and ask: What is the source and what can I do about that? Because one thing is for sure: so long as you focus on the stick, nothing will really change or shift, but if you turn towards the source then a new way becomes possible.
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