In the good old days when I was a student of computer science, I got used to really steep learning curves. This was mostly due to three factors: I was not one of those ‘geeks’; I had very, very little prior knowledge before venturing into my university course; and: it was mountains of materials that were thrown at us, constantly.
‘I feel like a fraud’. This is what employees of clients I work with often voice. It is usually at the point of time when strategy is moved to implementation. Hence: when it all gets concrete.
The statement is an expression of the feeling of overwhelm that comes with delving into sustainability issues, acquiring new knowledge and terminology, and in addition having to adapt ones habitual practice of work.
It is not only a emotion that I very much empathize with; it is also one that I experience myself times and over again in this space. Even after over a decade ‘in the business’.
There is always more to an issue; someone that is more of an expert in a specific area; nothing ever is easy and everything needs constant questioning; there are few things that are ‘run off the mill’ and that mere fact creates doubts. More regularly than I’d like to admit I fall into that very same ‘valley of despair’ …
Some see this as the other side of the the Dunning-Kruger (DK) effect, named after the authors of the first paper outlining the challenges of people not being aware of their lack of skill in a certain area. This is particularly the case of beginners just delving into a new area. The bad news: DK may be just a statistical aberration.
The real-life experience of what happens with us when entering a new field of expertise …
Hence the bad news: this feeling of overwhelm is mostly intuitive, and far from scientifically proven albeit it does ring a bell with our real-life experience.
The good news: there is something else that does align reasonably well with that emotional roller coaster. It’s called the Theory U. And it originates in Change Management.
(Image Source: Wikicommons)
The core elements of the Theory U
| 1. Co-initiating common intent: Stop and listen to others and to what life calls you to do. | 4. Co-creating strategic microcosms: Prototype the new to explore the future by doing. |
| 2. Co-sensing the field of change: Go to the places of most potential and listen with your mind and heart wide open. | 5. Co-evolving through innovations: ecosystems that facilitate seeing and acting from the whole. |
| 3. Presencing inspiration and common will: Go to the threshold and allow the inner knowing to emerge |
Why is this relevant for companies, and SMEs in particular?
Once the low hanging fruits are gleaned, everything gets much more difficult. This is true in product innovation, in sales … and in sustainability. What follows is what I called above the ‘valley of despair’ where efforts and the related successes seem not only to be inversely correlated, but indeed disproportionately difficult.
It is at this moment that many companies throw their efforts to the bin, and assume they were either wrong, or what they were trying to do was ‘not doable’. Initiatives get abandoned, product trials discontinued, innovative ideas ignored. In some cases rightly so (cf. Sunk Costs), but in other cases abandoning is really throwing in the towel.
In Theory U terms: “At the bottom of the U, lies an inner gate that requires us to drop everything that isn’t essential.’ In everyday terms: this is the bottom of the ‘valley of despair’, and where we get desperate to see and feel that our efforts are worth ‘it’. And that ‘we can do it’. The pathway down, is indeed littered by these insights of how much we don’t know ….
Hence, if a company knows that there will be a rather ungrateful phase arriving rather sooner than later: it is only half the surprise, half the disappointment, and more of a point of enlightenment. An opportunity to review, learn and re-plan the path forward. It is a slowing down of the system to bring it onto much clearer tracks. And one that needs to be pushed through with patience and determination in order to implement change and the new patterns and responsibility that are desired.
Seeing it that way – this is, or should be, the art and skill of senior management.
What to do about it?
The change in atmosphere within a company, once the ‘Valley of Despair’ approaches, is tangible. As a CEO you will hear complaints. You will notice projects not progressing. You will notice the lack of motivation of employees to tackle certain topics.
What to do about it sounds simple, but is a demanding inter-personal task. It’s a task that needs real leaders – not just managers.
Slow down. Understand the disappointments, understand the fears that come with them. And the heartbreak when things don’t work. Don’t advance. When successes don’t realise.
This is the time to bond as a team. To connect to the ‘why’ things are being done in first place, and the purpose and goal of what currently is being aimed for.
It’s the time to re-frame the efforts as a journey a bit like a mountain climb: of valleys and peaks. To revisit the wins and be proud of them. To review the losses and learn from rather than being discouraged by them.
Focus on the emotional engagement of your teams with the issue at hand.
A good start? Make them aware of the emotional roller coaster process that it means do tackle new areas of expertise and the acquisition of the related skill sets. Maybe find an in-house case study how this was ignored previously – to the detriment of the company.
And then: It’s an opportunity to think collectively, and using the effect to your benefit. It is a teams work after all.
Wonder how that can be done?
Do get in touch to discuss!
