Our civilization is entering a new epoch, based on
transformational ideas and representing a significant shift in awareness
of ourselves and our world. This shift from one set to a new set of ideas
represents traumatic change comparable to the experience of birth in its'
most basic physiological, psychological and spiritual sense. The demand
for appropriate leadership will increase during this period of uncertainty
as the "world is turned on its' head." The definition--the
characteristics--of appropriate leadership style for new organizations in
this new world is fundamental to understanding about leadership in the
generative organization.
"The birth of every new paradigm is also a conception in a new
conceptual matrix, which begins the process of gestation, crisis, and
revolution all over again." (Tarnas, 439). This new paradigm, that
Tarnas explores--and explains--within the context of the development of
Western Civilization, has evolved from the world conceived by Newton and
explicated by Kant. The participatory epistemology of post-Kantian
thought, developed by romanticists (Goethe, Emerson) and Hegelian
philosophers, provides the conceptual basis for this new paradigm shift.
The evolution of western thought, Tarnas concludes, has been "driven by a
heroic impulse to forge an autonomous rational human self by separating it
from the primordial unity with nature." (441). This new paradigm,
though, represents to Tarnas the "underlying goal of Western intellectual
and spiritual evolution. For the deepest passion of the Western mind has
been to reunite with the ground of its being."
It is this sense of merging, this Jungian-prophesied
reconciliation "between the long-dominant but now alienated masculine and
the long-suppressed but now ascending feminine," which has become so
pervasive in our culture. (443). This awareness has grown "because, as
Hegel suggested, a civilization cannot become conscious of itself, cannot
recognize its own significance, until it is so mature that it is
approaching its own death." (445). This transformation from Newtonian
physics and Kantian-Cartesian dualism is reflected in the expanding
studies "in archetypal and transpersonal psychology . . . and other
non-objectivist epistemologies, in scientific theories of the holonomic
universe, morphogenetic fields, dissipative structures, chaos theory . .
.the list could go on and on." (443).
This paradigm shift discussed by Tarnas was also described by
Toffler in his "Third Wave," and its sequel, "the Fourth Wave," by Maynard
and Mehrtens. Toffler's description reflected the growing consciousness
of significant change and defined the attributes of that paradigm shift.
Maynard and Mehrtens take that vision further by describing a maturing, or
fourth, model. In Table 2 of their book (42) they provide an interesting
comparison of these paradigm shifts (from second to fourth waves) among
six elements (relationships, authority, values, security, mode of inquiry
and decision making). Of those, an inquiry into four of those
elements--relationships, authority, values and decision making--is useful
in looking at leadership attributes.
Within the context of relationships, the shift moves from
competing to cooperating to cocreating. Authority, which was fully
externalized in the second wave, is transformed as people begin
questioning authority and attempting to wrest personal power back to
themselves and is finally synthesized into collaborative systems where
power is fully internalized. Values, rooted in materialism and masculine
supremacy shifts into a "growing concern for balance and sustainability"
and finally concludes with a holistic and integrated vision of life and
wholeness. Finally, decision making changes from rational and scripted
acts to an awareness of intentional acts validated by intuition and
finally transforms into a recognition of "the centrality of intention,"
which exercises "the full range of human cognitive and perceptual
abilities." (42 - 44).
The challenge, for organizations and leaders, is just not to ride
these waves--which, as the authors point out, will be more like earthquake
or tidal waves than they will be the gentle waves of a tranquil sea--but
to anticipate and predict the consequence of these waves in order to
arrive at the right place and time. The reality of consonance dissonancy
will exacerbate situations when demands for organizational change and the
changes in individuals occur at different intervals and levels of
awareness. Actions will not match words, and managers and staff within
these organizations will do their best to ride out the changes without
becoming agents or collaborators of change. (49 - 50).
The development of the "generative" organization appears to be an
attempt to design an entity which embraces this paradigm shift. The
Center for Management Design defines the generative organization as
operating on "the scale of vision or design," as opposed to the "scale of
events" used by reactive organizations or the "scale of patterns" used by
responsive organizations. Goals become self-defeating; instead this
organization generates a continuing and dynamic view of an ever-changing
vision and works to fulfill each possible iteration or permutation of that
vision. Visions that are broad and long create discontinuous experiences
or threads within the overall design that begin and end without
denigrating the whole. This allows for, and requires, the ability to leap
from one thread to another without the need for continuity that is
required in a more rational, less intuitive, organization.
This organization design relies on the participative and romantic
concepts described by Tarnas--indeed, its' developers refer to the chaos
theory as the basis for much of their organizational definition. This
"flat organization, with decision making and authority spread broadly
throughout rather than concentrated in a few august bodies who command and
control the rest of the organization" requires sophisticated
communications skills and a staff of leaders who share some variation of a
common vision. The concept of centralized leadership, characterized by
sophisticated managerial techniques, will be replaced by a multitude of
centered leaders who act intentionally, intuitively and participatively
within the chaotic trends of their industry. The generative organization,
like the world around it, is "organized for constant change." (5).
Moving from the reactive or responsive organizational model of the second
or third wave will be traumatic at best. Not only will we require the
education and development of skills for the changing world, but also the
changing organization. Innovative leadership at many levels will be
instrumental in meeting this challenge.
The transformational leader seems the best fit for this social,
philosophical and organizational transformation. The description of
transformational leadership, developed by Tich and Devanna, is of "a
process that is systematic, consisting of purposeful and organized search
for changes, systematic analysis, and the capacity to move resources from
areas of lesser to greater productivity . . . [to bring about] a strategic
transformation . . . ." (Bass, 53 - 54). We might add, within this
description, the description "intuitive" to that of "systematic."
Gardner speaks of the interweaving of continuity and change, and
how, though the purposes and values of society change, they do so in a
durable fashion, allowing societies to change without losing their
distinctiveness. The innovative, or transforming leader, must "help the
group achieve the sense of security and freedom from fear that enables it
to risk renewal." (124 - 125). The skills or traits of leadership which
Gardner identifies appear applicable to the generative organization as
they are to the third wave of organizations which he has described. These
traits, in a synopsized listing, are:
7 Envisioning goals
7 Affirming values
7 Regeneration of values
7 Motivating
7 Managing
planning & priority setting.
organizing & institution building.
keeping the system functioning.
agenda setting & decision making.
exercising political judgment.
7 Achieving workable unity
7 Trust
7 Explaining
7 Serving as a symbol
7 Representing the group
7 Renewing
7 Enabling & empowering
sharing information and creating education opportunities.
sharing power by devolving initiative and responsibility.
building confidence.
removing barriers.
seeking, finding and husbanding necessary resources.
resolving paralyzing conflicts.
providing organizational arrangements appropriate to group effort.
(Gardner, 11 - 22)
The last category (enabling & empowering) should become the
primary skill as we seek to develop a multitude of trained leaders (and
opportunities) within each organization. Indeed, the most dominant
feature of the generative leader may become the attempt to become
superfluous as the central or focus leader as the other members of the
organization begin to exercise a comparable degree of leadership.
Works Cited
Bass, Bernard M. (1974). Bass & Stodgill's handbook of leadership:
theory, research and managerial applications. New York: The Free
Press.
Center for Management Design (1994). "Defining the Generative
Organization." http://www.cmd.com
Gardner, John W. (1990). On Leadership. New York: The Free Press.
Maynard, Herman B. Jr. and Mehrtens, Susan E. (1993). The Fourth
Wave: Business in the 21st Century. San Francisco: Berret-Koehler.
Tarnas, Richard. (1991). The Passion of the Western Mind:
Understanding the ideas that have shaped our world view. New York:
Harmony Books.
-- Richard C. "Doc" Holloway, Limen Development Network - olypolys@nwrain.com" The eagle never lost so much time, as when he submitted to learn of the crow."
-William Blake
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>