In the last six weeks of the IBL blog, we have compared the old plays of the Industrial AgeThe period when humans developed large complex organizations... More playbook to the new playbook for leaders found in Leadership Is Language. Here’s a recap.
First, we have two different work modes. RedworkDoing, action, process, production work. Redwork benefits fr... More is the active production work that benefits from reducing variabilityThe spread in a characteristic. Variability can be across ti... More and a prove mindsetA mindset motivate to achieve something, prove competence, s... More, whereas blueworkThinking, cognitive, creative, deciding work. Bluework benef... More encompasses the reflective, collaborative thinking processes that benefit from embracing variabilityThe spread in a characteristic. Variability can be across ti... More and an improveThe play at the end of redwork where we pause to reflect on ... More mindset. Within these two modes, there are six leadership plays:
Starting in redworkDoing, action, process, production work. Redwork benefits fr... More we transition from to blueworkThinking, cognitive, creative, deciding work. Bluework benef... More with:
Control the clockThe new play where we are able to call a pause or time-out i... More, not obey the clockThe Industrial Age play where we feel the stress of having t... More.
CompleteThe play at the end of redwork where we pause to reflect on ... More, not continueThe Industrial Age play of continuing redwork, or if pausing... More.
While in blueworkThinking, cognitive, creative, deciding work. Bluework benef... More we:
CollaborateThe play where we learn from others thereby making our produ... More, not coerceThe Industrial Age play where we goad, manipulate, order, mo... More, with the goal to:
ImproveThe play at the end of redwork where we pause to reflect on ... More, not proveThe Industrial Age play where demonstration of competency or... More.
Transition from blueworkThinking, cognitive, creative, deciding work. Bluework benef... More back to redworkDoing, action, process, production work. Redwork benefits fr... More with:
CommitThe play where we decide what we intend to do and dedicate o... More, not complyThe Industrial Age play of doing what we were told. More.
Now we come to the sixth, the final, and arguably the most important new play for leaders – CONNECTThe enabling play that makes all the other plays more effect... More.
Now remember in the Industrial AgeThe period when humans developed large complex organizations... More, we separated the deciders – salaried leaders – from the doers -hourly payed workers – and that resulted in a whole series of plays that we’ve now gone through: Obey the clockThe Industrial Age play where we feel the stress of having t... More, CoerceThe Industrial Age play where we goad, manipulate, order, mo... More, ComplyThe Industrial Age play of doing what we were told. More, ContinueThe Industrial Age play of continuing redwork, or if pausing... More the work in a Prove mindsetA mindset motivate to achieve something, prove competence, s... More, and finally ConformThe Industrial Age play where people hide behind their posit... More. Bosses of the Industrial AgeThe period when humans developed large complex organizations... More wanted sterile workplaces devoid of emotions. The best way for leaders to get their teams to complyThe Industrial Age play of doing what we were told. More with their coerced wishes was for everyone to conformThe Industrial Age play where people hide behind their posit... More to their role in the hierarchy. If you are deciding what others should do, you have to maintain a certain distance from them; connection is counterproductive. The goal of this rule is to prevent friendship from coloring decisions about work assignments and promotions.
What we really want now is ConnectThe enabling play that makes all the other plays more effect... More. Because we’re making the doers also be the deciders, the workers also be the thinkers and the leaders, in order to make healthy decisions we have to have a healthy emotional state, we need to feel psychologically safe. In order to do that, we have to feel like humans at work. In order to do that we have to feel connected. This is why the final play, which underpins all of these is to ConnectThe enabling play that makes all the other plays more effect... More.
The connectThe enabling play that makes all the other plays more effect... More play is about caring–caring what people think, caring how they feel, caring for their personal goals. Instead of judging from a position of power, we walk alongside from a position of encouragement. This does not mean accepting whatever the person thinks or does. It does not mean shielding them from the consequences of their own behavior, but it does mean removing unnecessary and artificially induced workplace inhibitors to feeling safe. People will not feel cared for if they do not feel safe. People can’t strive for stretch
goals or feel free to say what they think.
The connectThe enabling play that makes all the other plays more effect... More play is the antidote to fear.
ConnectThe enabling play that makes all the other plays more effect... More makes it safe to say what we see and think, even if no one else sees or thinks the way we do, even if we are not 99 percent sure that we’re correct. ConnectThe enabling play that makes all the other plays more effect... More creates cultural conditions that encourage diversity of thought and variabilityThe spread in a characteristic. Variability can be across ti... More of opinion.
ConnectThe enabling play that makes all the other plays more effect... More is a special play in that it does not fit into the sequence of the blue-red-blue cycle. Rather, it is an underlying basic building block that enables all the other plays. The behaviors that support some of the earlier plays help with connectThe enabling play that makes all the other plays more effect... More, like observing (pause and invite others observations) and celebrating (completeThe play at the end of redwork where we pause to reflect on ... More the work and celebrate), and inviting colleagues to tell their story (human relatedness.) Others are strongly enabled by connectThe enabling play that makes all the other plays more effect... More, like creating the feeling of safety that allows everyone to speak up and to let go of the “be good” self (collaborating and improving.)
