Furthermore, we can easily become anxious about becoming anxious. As adults, we are reminded of these childhood fears. We revert (regress) to an anxiousness that arises from the childhood sense of powerlessness that comes from confronting these overwhelming anxiety-monsters. All of this occurs if we don’t have an appropriate and sustained setting of safety in which to address the anxiety and the diverse challenges of VUCA-Plus. The choice of an appropriate strategy is best made in a setting that provides containment of the anxiety as well as resources for the selection of an appropriate strategy.
The Containers: Temporary Systems
The noted organizational consultant and educator Matthew Miles observed that there are a “bewilderingly wide” range and variety of temporary systems in our society. Miles mentions conferences, games, juries and love affairs. He also lists ad hoc task forces, intensive personnel assessment programs, carnivals and utopias. What about research projects, governmental terms of office, political and social demonstrations? He mentions these, as well as military battles, psychotherapy, consulting, institutions that have complete or nearly complete control over their clients (mental hospitals, prisons, welfare homes, half-way houses) and even schools and colleges (temporary for the student).
Temporary systems are among the most complex and challenging means by which one can move toward higher order learning (as I will further explore below). These systems are potentially effective in helping leaders reframe solutions. Task forces that operate as temporary systems can encourage the generation of new ideas. They also can help employees try out alternative roles, gain new perspectives from other members of the task force who come from different parts of the organization, and gain a new appreciation of their own distinctive strengths and resources.
Task forces and international assignments, for example, as temporary systems have become a common and useful talent management tool, affording the leader a chance to “test-drive” their newly acquired competencies or yet-to-be-discovered abilities. Temporary systems are “temporary” in many ways. They are often one-time events or recurring events that look different each time they are enacted. They are often quite ephemeral in nature—being based in fantasy or in play. We offer several examples to give us a clearer idea regarding how they operat4e.
Fantasy
Under challenging and often elusive conditions such as is often apparent with VUCA-Plus we take the opportunity to engage in Flight. The “imagined lion” is too elusive to fight and too enduring to engage in freeze (without major damage to our body). How do you fight against ambiguity or contradiction? How do you stay quiet when confronting an ever-changing (dancing) landscape of volatility. So, we run away and find that fantasies of many sorts provide temporary reprieve from the lion. We escape into television, our cable-provided movies and an occasional outing to the local movie theater. Some of us choose to attend live theater (at least when the virus isn’t raging) or go to a concert where live music leads us temporarily into an alternative universe.
Are these fantastic voyages good for us or are they a sign of our personal and collective dysfunction? Those psychoanalytic thinkers who belong in the so-called “ego psychology” camp write about the positive aspects of these voyages—identifying them as “regression in the service of the ego.” While these analysts were more likely to focus on constructive and creative process associated with artistic endeavors, they would probably have to admit (grudgingly) that most forms of fantasy are “healthy” – especially given the multiple challenges we are all facing in mid-21st Century life.
Download Article 1K Club
