Extraordinary events interrupt the more or less steady flow of routine work with noise. Man’s first reaction to the loud interruption is fright. This is followed by the question of how to cope with the unknown and how to reintroduce, bit by bit, tested small routines that come closer to the goal of normality desired and strived for on all sides. These small routines in the unknown are thus the beginning of a new, uniformly flowing stream of increasingly routinized work, which then describes the new normality.
Normality, security, knowledge, planning, predictability…..all words that make most people feel good.
Uncertainty, ambiguity, information gap, inconsistency, complexity, design freedom, planning uncertainty …… all words and conditions that might make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
How does an organization manage to unite the two manifestations of one and the same thing – called evolution? How can the states of routine, turbulence and freedom be equally integrated in an organization and the thought and action models of its workforce?
Currently, we as facilitators have the feeling that the turbulences and the not yet arrived normality are used to address long pending changes. This may make sense for the organization, but for the workforce it may be not-so-pleasant news after the overcome newness of the last months. As always, it’s a question of perspective.
How can a situation like this be managed well? How can a forward-looking and confident perspective be adopted? Ask us. This is our ever reinventing work.