Dry Stone Walls, Holons and Organisations

Recently Ive been walking in the Derbyshire Dales. Even though I live in Yorkshire, it's one of my favourite parts of the country. The weather was kind and the scenery - even though spring hadn't yet sprung, stunning.  One of the things that characterises the Dales are the dry stone walls.  It's easy to forget they are not a natural feature of the landscape - they are man-made, but they just seem 'right' and add to the landscape as much as any natural rocky outcrop or waterfall.

Reflecting on my weekend, the concept of holons came to mind.  A holon is something that is simultaneously a whole and a part. In a dry stone wall each stone is an individual, has its own identity and, at the same time, is part of a larger whole. To exist as a wall, the stones must conform to a structure that has rules. To survive, the wall must continue to meet the intended purpose. Within the larger structure, smaller systems and structures exist. Each stone has a relationship with each adjacent stone and with the rest of the wall. There is no bonding agent other than the relationship between the stones. The careful placement of the stones, keeps them together and creates the wall. Building the wall in this way, enables it to flex and move with its environment. Building a wall requires craft and an awareness of the landscape where the structure will be built. The wall needs to be carefully maintained; rebuilding a wall requires far more resources than maintaining one.

Holons exist in organisations too.  The organisation is an entity on its own, but existing within it are functions, departments and teams.  And of course a team is a group of individuals organised to deliver purpose.  Sometimes though, as with dry some walls we see the landscape but not the individual stone. Yet without each stone there would be no wall.  

When building a wall it is said that once you pick up a stone you can't put it down again until it has been placed in exactly the right spot. The builder evaluates each stone carefully to assess its value for a particular purpose and then handles it respectfully to realise its potential.  That sounds like talent management and succession planning to me. Whatever the size and shape, no matter how big or small, each stone plays an integral role in becoming something bigger. 

Imagine your organisation as a dry stone wall, what would that be like?

If you'd like to know more about the art of dry stone walling, the Derbyshire Branch of the Dry Stone Walling Association would be happy to help I'm sure (other Branches are available) .  If you'd like to know more about how developing individuals can add value to your organisational landscape, contact us.

The Gorilla in the Room

I’m sure that you've come across the elephant in the room – the thing that everyone sees but cannot (or dares not) talk about.  But what about the Gorilla in the room?

Research by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris demonstrated why, when focusing on something specific, we tend not to notice other things going on around us.  In their research on selective attention, 2 groups of students pass a basketball as they bob and weave around each other. With all the movement, counting the number of passes is difficult and requires a lot of concentration.  Try it out for yourself Test of Selective Attention before reading on.

You can also learn more about perception and focus in Dan’s TEDx presentation on Seeing The World As It Isn't.

Now you’re back, I hope I didn't give the game away in the title of the blog.  Around only 1 in 8 people will see the gorilla. It may seem strange or even implausible that someone in a gorilla suit goes unnoticed, but the research shows that the level of focus needed to achieve a particular result, gives rise to some unintended and unwanted consequences.

In a related experiment, Trafton Drew found that 83% of radiologists missed a matchbook sized picture of a gorilla when they were examining medical slides for cancer nodules.  They only saw what they what they were expecting to see and disregarded anything that didn't fit their reality.

In the current business reality of austerity, it’s not that hard to get fixated on cutting costs for example.  With total focus on one thing, it’s easy to lose the bigger picture, or miss out on opportunities for innovation.  That’s one thing that Steve Jobs apart. As well as being fanatical about detail, he could also see the bigger picture.

One unintended consequence of a cost driven focus is the impact on employee engagement.  Management is reduced to completing tasks without considering their effectiveness or contribution to the organisation’s purpose. Staff feel increasingly under-valued and stress levels increase. Have you ever tried squeezing play dough?  The harder you squeeze the more it slips through your fingers.

I’ll leave you with a question.  How is selective attention impacting on you and your business?  Where is your focus at present and what might you be missing?

Is there a gorilla in your room?

Thanks to my friend Ann Herrmann at Herrmann International (www.hbdi.com www.hbdi.co.uk) for bringing this to my attention.