A simple way to improve the way you respond to complexity
Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of hosting anther of Blend Associates Ltd. CPD session for the coaches and supervisor. The title of the session Systems Leadership: Leading in complexity in the NHS and beyond and Debbie Sorkin from the National Director of Systems Leadership session brought her experience and humour to do this.
One of the take aways I got was all the different ways we avoid complex problems and Debbie gave various suggestion how this can happen. I ound the playful flow diagram from Professor Peter Glint helpful. He calls it The Sweep it Under the Carpet School of Management, this approach does not allow mistakes and can use blame to hide the problem.
I remember running a family camp when I was Buddhist monk and there was round 100 people. A disastrous event happened outside of the family camp and I tried to sweep it under the carpet. I did not know what to do and was in shock myself. Given that I offered a playful open space, some parents challenged me on my behaviour, as it was not congruent with this. The event soon aired, and the group responded with resilience and compassion in amazing ways which I still today feel grateful for (this included young people and children).
Play for me is one way of relating to complexity: to do simple, small experiments so you can allow a solution to emerge.
What examples have you seen of sweeping it under the carpet and how does that make you feel? What would you do that could improve the situation?
