Change Agents

One of the interesting insights as I shared my experience here in SE Illinois with a good friend and mentor from the Chicago area is that we struggle as leaders as we seek to enlighten and assist our served populations with ideas and facts that show change is needed, and in the end, are unable to effect the change we know would greatly advance a region into the next iteration of growth and development.



I am reading Margaret Wheatley's book "Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time" (2007) and I want to quote some of what she states because it resonates with me strongly as I work within bureaucratic and community structures.



I am not a politically naive person, yet this last round of activity that the state exerted in our region is puzzling and disappointing. The Board I served was solidly behind the actions that they were taking in enlisting regional discussions and cooperation. The federal funder, USDOL, was also very supportive in regionalism discussions and efforts to leverage federal funds for better outcomes. The elected official prior to last years elections were also very involved and supportive. However, a combination of events decidedly ended the effort and diminished the work of the board to a non-player regionally - exactly where it was when I arrived on the scene. Many of the relationships cultivated over the three years were ruined by decisions made outside the region without regard to the consequences and the setback that this action represented.

What was being developed by the efforts and discussions at the regional level was not to become some power center, but rather, use the model of the farm cooperative and create a community cooperative or as Meg Wheatley states a community of practice. "The concept community of practice was developed to illuminate that learning is a social experience. We humans learn best when in relationship with others who share a common practice. We organize as communities with those who have skills and knowledge that are important to us."(Wheatley, 2007).

Another important insight I learned is best summarized in this quote;"Aggressive problem solving techniques manifest in subtle ways as well. Nearly every problem faced by an organization is complex. Yet we act as if simple cause and effect are at work. We push to find the one simple reason things have gone wrong. We look for one action, or the one person, that created the mess. As soon as we find someone to blame, we act as if we have solved the problem. Of course it is always some one else's fault, never our own. This is the one real joy of scapegoating - we walk away and somebody else or their project takes the hit. Finding others to blame is the only reward of simplistic thinking." (Wheatley, 2007)

These repeating activities in the area I have just completed my service in ensures that innovation and creative responses will diminish because one risk taker after another is banished from the region when it becomes evident that they are starting to affect change. A friend of mine said he could name six or seven wonderfully intelligent leaders who came here and in as little as one year were disenfranchised because they stirred up too much discussion about the future. The status quo keepers even have a training program to ensure that after the next generation takes leadership that the same types of behavior will continue. Sad.

The healthy alternatives are to be a life long learner, open to the changing environment, globally and regionally, and then create responses that will best serve the next generation. Richard Longworth's book, Caught in the Middle (2008), is playing out in the Midwest as this weak economy strikes hard at the manufacturing base of the Midwest. When will we learn that collaboration and the emerging changes in economic relationships demand a different approach and level of awareness?