From the perspective of whitewater navigation, this would mean that we experiment with different ways of engaging our kayak in our current whitewater world. We particularly try out some changes that might make sense in terms of how the river is likely to operate around the next bend. Will there be more rocks, greater drop in elevation, more bends, etc.? We take “notes” on how our kayak is behaving in response to changes in our use of the paddle, our way of sitting in the kayak, etc. Scharmer requires that we not only try out several ways of kayaking, and take notes on these trials, but also explore and embrace new ways of thinking about the kayak and the dynamic way it operates in the river’s turbulence. These new ways are activated by what we have learned from the current trials. The new ways, in turn, influence other changes we might wish to try out before reaching the next bend in the river. Effective learning, in other words, becomes recursive and directed toward (leaning toward) the future.
None of this learning is easy. Furthermore, it is hard to determine which changes to make and how best to reflect on these changes. These processes are particularly challenging to engage when we are still navigating the current white-water world. An expert on white water navigation might join us in the kayak (without tipping it over!). They can help us manage the real-time interplay between centering and forethought. It takes a particularly skillful coach or consultant who is herself both centered and forethinking if she is to be of benefit in the management of this dynamic, turbulent polarity. The request should read: “Coach or consultant is needed who is willing to travel—on a white-water river—and is willing to learn in real time alongside their client. A proclivity toward leaning into the future is prerequisite.”
The Search for Calm
It is certainly understandable why we search for calm while navigating a treacherous white-water world. WE do experience the Great Exhaustion. We might steer our craft to a quite spot in the river (the stagnant subsystem) or we might simply put our craft over to the side of the river and sit on the bank for a short while. In an organizational or community setting we look for calm in several ways. The most obvious is consumption of mind and emotion altering substances. We drink a beer or something “heavier” while sitting on the bank. Things seem to be a bit less turbulent after one or two cocktails. We avoid dealing with the multiple crises in our life by downing a bottle of wine every evening or by taking some of the pills we precured from our somewhat shady friend. Or there are the medications we are taking for our sore back that seems to be helping as well with our sore life.
Download Article 1K Club
