It’s summer time where I live and with summer comes catch ups with friends. And while the catch ups are slightly different this year due to physical distancing, sharing food and sitting around fires can still happen. There is something about food and fires that lead to meaningful conversations about things that matter.
Every conversation leads to hearing perspectives and opinions different from mine. Sometimes significantly different. I enjoy this. And often, the difference is what influences me to a new place in my own views. The shift is rarely dramatic, most often it is subtle.
Occasionally I’m stunned by another’s viewpoint. But the joy of friends is knowing some of their history, their influences, the circles of influence they walk in. And so even when stunned, I can often reflect and piece together why someone might believe or view the world a certain way.
Our life experiences and the circles of influence we most operate in shape us immensely. Some people say we are the ‘average’ of all the people we are influenced by. Therefore when 80% of the people we hang out with are runners, there is a high probability that we will be runners too.
When we seek change in organisations, culture is critical. Culture change is rarely dramatic. Culture changes drip by drip by drip. But drips can turn into lakes and oceans when put together. Therefore, culture change happens when we ‘find the others’ as Timothy and Seth say. Often we try to go from a drip to an ocean of change. We’re always better off to find the others who seek a similar change to the one we do.
When we find the others, enjoy food and fires togethers (or whatever the appropriate equivalent is). But don’t keep the food and fire to yourselves. Invite someone else too. Through generousity and discussion, we might combine our ‘drips’ to create a. trickle.
Once we have a trickle, we’re on our way.
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