Making Positive Change

As Alberto continued to learn, he changed. He was able to add new beliefs and assumptions to his mental map, which, in turn, allowed him to see aspects of reality that he previously did not see.

Alberto began to pay more attention to culture and to people. He developed a zeal for speed, purpose, and unity. As a result he began, among other things, to emphasize purpose, authenticity, possibility, embracing the highest good, and trusting the emergent process.

PURPOSE

Alberto told us the organization had a purpose statement: “Our purpose is to improve the food production chain.”

Alberto could see our less than enthusiastic reaction and told us that he knew it did not sound “sexy.” Yet improving the food production chain is one of the world’s greatest challenges. Success or failure will have a huge impact on the future of humankind. Inside the company, the people understood and related to this purpose. Because they took it seriously, it was a source of inspiration.

As things began to improve, Alberto’s aspirations increased. He began to expect the company to double in size every five years. To manage such growth, the company needed consistency, a set of values, and operating principles. Together, the purpose, values, and operating procedures became a meaningful framework. Once Alberto had this overall framework in place, the company started to move faster.

AUTHENTIC COMMUNICATION

Alberto told us something surprising about the communication of purpose. It was not the words that caused the company to move. It was the person saying the words, and it was how the person saying the words said them. Purpose is inseparable from integrity and authenticity. He told us that, without an authentic leader engaging in authentic behavior, words carry no power.

Many companies have statements of purpose or vision or values on a wall. Yet, often the people feel the statements are meaningless. When the chips are down, the leaders ignore their own statements. The people begin to see them as empty words—not as statements of purpose but as statements of hypocrisy—and the people become cynical.

Alberto said that, at one point, one of his brightest people told him that his purpose was not a strategy. But that didn’t bother Alberto: he told the man that he did not care that it was not a strategy. The key was that the approach made sense to Alberto, and when he talked about it he had passion. The people could feel that the passion was authentic. So they accepted and acted upon his words, and the company became more aligned. Alberto did not care about the academic criteria for a strategic vision. He only cared about his impact and the collective growth of the company. Alberto was real, and so were the purpose and value statements.

SEEING POSSIBILITY

While the conventional mental map makes many assumptions of constraint, Alberto aspired to greater growth. This meant orienting to possibility. Over time, his people learned to do this. In fact, they were eventually able to see and pursue possibilities he could not see. He told us: “We have six companies. We told them to double earnings every five years. The concept point was doubling in size. Their initiatives had to be inside our strategic pillars and core capabilities.

“Eight out of ten times, what they came up with worked. For the two mistakes, there was no punishment. It was okay. We were not going to lower their bonuses. We learned from the mistakes and we moved on. Sometimes they came up with ideas that I didn’t believe in, and I would go to the board and say, ‘Look, I have my doubts, but we have to trust them.’ The board rarely voted against their proposals. Because our purpose was clear, because we had a concept point, there was cohesion. They got to decide on their own and they did marvelous things. We got into many new businesses.”

Why would Alberto support an idea he did not believe in? He would support it because he was in the business of helping people see and believe in their own individual and collective possibilities. He was empowering them to see and pursue possibility. As they learned to do this, they began to help him see what was possible.

COMMON GOOD

Alberto claims that, in operating according to the aforementioned principles, “it made our people feel good about what they were doing.” The feelings of the people mattered to Alberto because positive feelings are a reflection of positive energy. Alberto links their energy to the integrity of the leaders and their ability to orient to the highest good.

In one case, Alberto risked the company’s relationship to a government in a very important emerging economy. He warned the leader of the country that his company would not buy their exports as long as they continued certain internal practices that were contrary to the good of the planet. When the leader changed the policy, the change was celebrated across the globe. Alberto’s company, however, was silent and allowed the credit to go elsewhere; nevertheless, they knew what had happened, and the story continues to be of great consequence to them.

Alberto believes that integrity and acting on the highest good is important because it gives rise to positive energy. He says that it makes people “proud of their company. They don’t leave. They have a sense of direction and energy.”

EMERGENCE

Emergence means that something appears, occurs, or materializes without direction and control from the top. Alberto learned that as a leader he had to become a facilitator of development. He had to back off. He had to provide purpose and trust his people. Indeed, he had to support their ideas even when he was doubtful about them. This reliance on purpose and trust is empowering. It gives rise not only to individual initiative but also to the emergence of collective learning and creative collaboration.

As his people moved forward, Alberto noted that they sometimes failed. The failures were not punished but treated as points of learning. The key was continuing to move forward and continuing to learn. In doing this, the people were cocreating the organization. The organization was emerging in real time. It was not emerging from the mind of the person at the top. It was emerging from the interactions between all the people connected with it. This particular principle, the notion of trusting the emergent process, is far outside the conventional mental map. It may be one of the most difficult concepts for executives to understand, accept, and act upon.