I typically pause at this point and turn to the lived experiences of my coaching client. Typically, under these conditions, everyone in the organization knows that things are in disarray and that something is about to happen. Unfortunately, one can only speculate on what will happen under these conditions of disarray or chaos.
When the ball is swinging widely from one ridge to the other ridge, it has as great a chance of moving over the top of the left ridge into the adjacent valley as it does of moving over the top of the right ridge into that adjacent valley. Most of the members of an organization don’t really know much about either of the adjacent valleys and there is always hope that the ball will continue to roll down the current valley and never really go over the top.
If the ball does move over the top of one of the ridges, then it will roll down the side of the second valley. A whole new set of parameters will be in operation. The organization needs to make some immediate adjustments to this new valley. The ball will not be at the top of the valley when it rolls over the top of the ridge. Hence, it is not like a ball that is starting at the top of the valley and has had ample opportunity to learn from its mistakes.
The ball/organization and its members must “hit the ground running” in this new valley. It will never be the same as a ball/organization that started at the top of the valley. It must instead develop its own style. A large company that downsizes will never be the same as a smaller company that was never large in the first place. A reformed alcoholic will never be the same as a lifelong teetotaler. The reformed alcoholic, for instance, might be more compassionate (or less compassionate) with regard to those who are still active drinkers. The wounds caused by downsizing will never really heal.
I offer my coaching client an insight. In addition to all of the fast learning that must occur, the ball/organization may be in for a spectacular ride!
The ball enters the second valley at an angle and at the peak of one of the second valley’s ridges. Therefore, it will tend to roll high up on the opposite ridge of this second valley. It may even roll over the top of this second valley into yet another valley (another revolution). Regardless of the valley in which it settles, the ball will swing back and forth wildly from one ridge to the other ridge before settling into a more stable pattern of slowly oscillating, self-correcting movement down the floor of this valley.
What determines the nature and outcome of the movement of the ball/organization down the warped plane? I have already mentioned to my client that speed as an important determinant. The faster the ball is moving, the more likely it is to shift between adjacent valleys. The amount of oscillation is also dependent on the height of the ridges. Adjacent valleys and organizational types with low ridges (highly permeable boundaries) are conducive to frequent movements between valleys. Thus, in a postmodern world with highly permeable boundaries (Bergquist, 1993), we are likely to find more revolutionary changes in organizations—more swinging between valleys.
Download Article 1K ClubThe amount of oscillation within a specific valley is also dependent in part on the amount of friction that exists between the ball and the plane on which it is rolling. High levels of friction in a valley tend to slow down the roll of the ball and hence the extent (and height) of the movement up the side of either ridge of the valley. Organizational valleys exhibit friction to the extent that they have strong cultural resistance to change. Organizations with dominant, stable cultures tend to slow down oscillations as well as the movement of the organization down the valley.
