Breaking Through Constraints (SSIR)

we identified several specific ways such balancing processes can thwart otherwise promising change initiatives: control-oriented managers who are threatened by new levels of openness and candor; delays in metrics that show costs of changes but take time to show benefits; polarization and competition between converts to a new way of doing things and

methodologies, structure, and guidelines. They need to understand how to implement the systems, tools, and processes readily available to them to executive effectively and collaboratively. The world is changing faster than we can keep up, and Nick and I are in agreement—we can make a difference in peoples’ lives in the way that we work.

In our era of complexity, we need ways of working together that span our traditional boundaries. We need collaborative structures that are flexible enough to shift on a moment’s notice, that are resilient enough to withstand turbulence and disruption, and that bring people together as equals to share leadership and decision-making.

The crux of good facilitation, according to Adam Kahane, author of Facilitating Breakthrough, is not to get people to work together, but to remove the obstacles to connection and collaboration—obstacles like disconnection, debilitating conflict, and other forms of “stuckness.