Whoomph.
That was a zinger. A well aimed and precisely landed zinger. Delivered with the clarity and wisdom of someone who has been there themselves.
It landed well. The zinger hasn’t stopped burrowing a hole in my consciousness since it landed.
The rabbit hole of vulnerability that I suspect I am about to venture into more deeply has me thinking about how we define vulnerability, conscious capability and what all those words mean together. And how our organisations support our being vulnerable and the assumptions and expectations people make when we are operating in our day to day roles.
All valid questions in these days of even more demands on organisations and our people. Certainly in public sector there is no let up in rising demands. It’s not without a good slug of self awareness that I know these questions are also a distraction from the experience of vulnerability. More on that later.
Saturday morning has been spent revisiting the humanity, humility, honesty, humour and courage of Brene Brown’s work. It doesn’t matter how many times I watch The power of vulnerability TEDTalk, I am endlessly struck by both the apparent simplicity and complexity of her work. In listening to audiences respond to her questions, it’s always blindingly obvious that people are going to say that they want their leaders to be authentic, more human, more vulnerable. But it is also apparent that people recognise that there is a risk to that – and the risk is the fear of being seen to be weak. Yet again the seen and the unseen embark on a dance that happens every day of our working and non working lives and often takes place without the accompanying music of awareness, transparency, compassion and acceptance.
The zinger has me thinking from a leadership and HR perspective about whether we really take into account vulnerability in the design of our organisations, in development programmes for our people? Or do those of us who recognise and champion Brene’s work and related practice, e.g., Psychological Safety, Civility Saves Lives, settle for less in our organisations. How far are we ready and able to go in promoting and championing the reality of vulnerability and the conditions we need to create to allow it to take root in our organisations?
Why should it matter you say? Well it’s the connections that Brene reminds us that vulnerability helps us weave:
“Vulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage”.
“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change”.
My heart sings a loud yes to both of those observations. Of course the connections are obvious. But my head is struggling to remember the last time I meaningfully included such KPI’s in our workforce dashboards. Would I/we even know how we would define these measures beyond staff survey questions that we’re afraid to ask because we don’t have a response to the answers we’d get? Is the work that we’re doing in places to build effective teams able to take root and grow, or is this work destined to build as much frustration in the knowing what is possible but our organisations being way off in delivering the space for what’s possible to take hold? Are we brave enough to really listen to our people?
That gives me real pause for thought. It takes conscious effort when our organisations are in turbulent times, and at least in my experience when we are ourselves in a state of vulnerability, to remember those connections. And when we have too many priorities, not enough resource, a lack of clear leadership and common purpose we struggle more to create the conditions necessary for us to harness the courage we need to raise difficult issues; encourage the creative spark that will fire innovation and deliver change that is sustainable.
And then there is conscious capability. And it truth those are the words that resonated and not in a good way. I’m not entirely sure why yet. Perhaps it’s tiring of the often experienced challenge for HR & OD practitioners that we will be vulnerable and human, but we will always be on our game and there to pick up the pieces for alot of situations that could have been avoided without complaint.
But perhaps it’s a recognition that in the not being consciously capable there is the potential for mistakes, for pain, for struggle and no guarantees that things will be ok. I’ve looked all day for the reason as to why I can avoid vulnerability and why it’s not necessary. Surprise surprise. It’s not gone well. And the level of resistance I’ve had to the idea has me thinking logically that I need to throw myself into this wholeheartedly, and damn the mess.
‘Surrender’ (sounds really grown up and thoughtful – when in reality it’s facing the inevitable kicking and screaming) was finally accepted when I read today’s horoscope “Everything that’s vulnerable about you, that you try to hide away, can shine through as the moon and Venus meet. And learning to be more open can be the biggest stepping stone towards the future you most want”. Bollocks.
The cover imagery of Keifer Sutherland’s new series ‘Rabbit Hole’ came to my mind. The fall into vulnerability is essentially a journey that is confusing, has twists and turns, uncertainty and discomfort. But ultimately the hope is it will be a place for learning, for meeting myself and others in different ways, for making breakthroughs and envisioning a brave new world.
In other words a place for innovation, creativity and change.
…………………
Rabbit Hole is on Amazon Prime for Keifer fans.
Civility saves lives is an organisation that I have become deeply passionate about over the last five or so years. You can find out more here. I cannot recommend the learning and amazing people involved enough.
Amy Edmonson’s The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth is a must read too.
Whilst I love The power of vulnerability, in truth I love Listening to shame more. It’s a profoundly moving exploration of a fundamental part of being human.
thefutureisquantum 