Transformation always takes time and energy #Change My Mind

This is a sketch, or work of art, from an art museum in Ljubljana. It makes a fun representation of energy going back and forth from one casserole full of water to another. There are two color arrows, a red one to represent energy gained in the form of heat and a blue one to represent energy lost into the atmosphere. And how they are linked makes no sense. Energy seems to move from one recipient to the next, possibly in an attempt to boil the water in it. The water needs to reach 100º for it to boil and transition from one state to another, and as energy moves there is always some loss along the way.

I’m clearly no expert in physics, but to transform something you do need time and you do need energy. And, if that was the artist's metaphorical point, when it comes to people it’s super messy.

Designing organizational culture is not as simple as drawing out a process, applying a rule that will infallibly work, and waiting. There’s the place we are at, which we want to transition from, the place we aspire to, which maybe doesn’t have a clear shape yet, and a very uncomfortable in between.

There are guidelines that are useful, examples we can take from others, and formulas to try out and customize. But if you are thinking of embarking on this journey, remember it will take a lot of your energy, and a lot of your time. There will be a lot of experimenting, failing, and iterating. And a LOT of conversations with people around you. There is no other way of truly transforming a place and its way of work.

At times it’s as frustrating as looking at this diagram, and it feels futile, but we’ve seen organizations pull through and out of that uncertain mess. And then proudly hold that triumph that translates into good business and good work.

#InCaseYouMissedIt there’s a new book on failing

Professor Amy C. Edmonson recently wrote a book called “Right Kind of Wrong, the science of falling well”. And it has a few things I love.

Her main concern is that she believes we need to understand failure better.

To her, there are two widespread failure cultures. One that is very resistant to failure, and is hostile to those who fail. The other one promotes that you fail fast and learn quickly. To her, they both miss the point, which is understanding.

The first one is very demanding because, well, not failing is impossible. And the other one, to her, is sloppy because it lacks context. Failing fast works when there is no other way but to experiment to get the knowledge you need to succeed, so it’s better to make mistakes quickly and gather experience. But there are plenty of contexts where that doesn’t apply. What, then?

How are we measuring failure? What does it mean to us? Is failing more and fast always better? How can we learn from failure? Is there a right kind of wrong?

For example, in one organization, at first sight, data showed that good teams failed more. But that seemed off, and she considered there had to be more to it. By diving into the data set and interviewing people, she arrived at a new insight: good teams report more failures than other teams. So the real question wasn’t if people failed or not, but what they did when they failed. And this has to do with a safe work environment, one with open conversations and leadership, amongst so many other variables.

So, mistakes are inevitable, but do you understand where these mistakes come from and how to work with them?

#ATshirtThatSays Your product is probably not a revolution, but it's still good

Maybe it’s not worth a t-shirt, but it should be an inspirational poster you see when you step inside the office or a pop-up when you log in.

There’s a trend to clickbait or “make things sexier” or the feeling we need to change the world to be noticed by the media. And, don’t feel bad, scientists feel this way too and they’re doing some pretty awesome work.

Veritasium posted a video on why science communication is a problem, and they divide science in two: the established body of knowledge and the speculations that might be true but still have no evidence. Most times, speculations and theories turn out to be wrong (discovering that is what science does). But when people communicate them, it’s becoming harder and harder to differentiate truth from speculation because of “the hype” and the need to make stuff bigger than it is.

And so everything, as long as it draws attention and gets clicks, is “a crisis”, or “ a revolution” and many other super bold claims that prove themselves to be untrue or half true, and even though they are efficient bait-wise, they reduce trust in the field or product. Because, how can we tell between the body of knowledge and the speculation?

If your product adds true value, it doesn’t need to be a paradigm-shifting revolution, you are kenough (sorry not sorry for the Barbie reference). And we can find an honest, non-boring way to sell it without overselling.

#InCaseYouMissedIt “THE THING” by John Carpenter

So, last week was Halloween. A time of the year I care close to nothing about but some people around me do, so we did some iconic scary movie and Edgar Allan Poe reading night (we’re nerds, what can we say). I got to know The Thing.

I hate scary movies but this was awesome (and old, so not really terrifying). And, because I have a tendency to mix work and leisure, I couldn’t help but tie this up with an organizational culture lesson for all.

The thing is something that shapeshifts, is really good at surviving in any environment, and is great at spreading. The whole movie plot revolves around how to stop this hard-to-grasp thing from reaching the mainland and achieving what would essentially be world domination.

When everyone is in the room, the thing is smart enough not to reveal itself. But it takes every one-on-one opportunity to gather strength.

In a way, dysfunctional organizational habits work similarly. As a leader, you probably know a lot is being said in the hallways and group chats. You can do a team-building session to exorcise the problem and get it out of the system, but the true problem hardly ever reveals itself. It’s not enough to gather people and ask what the problem is, it’s more complex than that. You can censor certain behaviors or ideas, but they will shapeshift into another symptom. Working on past errors doesn’t guide people in new ways. And you can’t pretend it’s not there because the problem will only grow. You probably should do something about it before it contaminates good work or makes talented people leave.

Luckily, when it comes to ways of work and organizations, we don’t need to annihilate anyone. We simply need to find the right tools to find where the pain is, set up a method to break the surface and go in-depth, and then understand how we can fix it in a safe environment.

This newsletter was put together with love, dedication, (a bit of) sarcasm and not enough time by the minds behind Sunstone. Do feel invited to share your comments, ideas, suggestions and/or insults with us at start@sunstone.pro