Let It Go
It was a sunny, warm day, the leaves turning vibrant colors of yellow and red, the Tumalo River, a dance of currents, swirling in harmony as my German Shepherd and I hiked alongside it. Margaret Wheatley’s audiobook, Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World played on my on my Airpods and I paused next to the river right as she asked, “What is it that streams can teach me about organizations?”[1]
I watched as my dog dragged a giant stick out into the water, hoping I would chase her. When I remained on the shore, she dropped the stick which was immediately swept away by the moving water. Soon this same stick was caught upon a rock and a pile of logs, lodging itself firmly among the debris, causing the water to move around, under, still flowing, but now on a slightly altered path.
It was at that moment, that I began to understand what I think Margaret Wheatley was saying throughout her two books we read for this week: we need a paradigm shift from seeing leadership as the power to control or dominate life, or as people as cogs in a machine, to working as partners. We can do this by looking to the natural world, where order naturally develops from chaos, where all of life is interconnected, and where we are not in control of anything. I am writing this on the eve of Hurricane Milton, currently a category 5 storm, hitting Florida, only a week and a half after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc from St. Pete all the way to Asheville, North Carolina. If these storms can teach us anything, it is that we are not in control!
Leading in Post-Pandemic Times
We live in a time when organizations are changing, requiring new ways of leading. Since the pandemic, this is even more true than it was when Margaret Wheatley was writing these books in the early 2000’s. We need new ideas, new perspectives, and better relationships to help us move our organizations forward. What was “new science” for Wheatley is not so “new” but can still help us find our way.
She writes, “We live in a time that proves Einstein right. ‘No problem can be solved from the same level of thinking that created it.’”[2] Recently, companies that allowed hybrid or work-at-home models for their employees during and for the years following the pandemic are requiring employees return to the office. Of course, rumors are swirling as to why the sudden mandate to return to cubicles, but according to an article in Forbes, the gist of it is because employers do not trust their employees.[3] It seems, even if the work is being done well and efficiently, employers feel a need to “have control” of their “cogs-in-the-machine.”[4]
I’m not saying employees should never work from their office, I’m simply trying to point out, how the pandemic invited us to embrace uncertainty and adaptability, to prioritize trust and transparency, and to re-organize our workplaces to embrace the full lives of employees. Before the “great re-set” of the pandemic, employees were stressed and burned out. Many had long commutes or little flexibility. If a child was sick or needed a ride to soccer practice, parents often had to take time off work, or rearrange their entire week to be able to be in the proverbial two places at once. Being able to work at home, or even in a hybrid sort of way, created space for employees to care for their own needs and families while also working for their employers.
Why are so many trying to return to the way it was before 2020? Why are so many trying to solve problems at the same level of thinking that created those problems before?
Let it Go
I wonder if it is because as Wheatley writes, “Old ways die hard. Amid all the evidence that our world is radically changing, we retreat to what has worked in the past. These days, leaders respond to increasing uncertainty by defaulting to command and control. Power has been taken back to the top of most major corporations, governments, and organizations and workers have been consigned to routine, exhausting work.”[5] It’s much easier to just do what we’ve always done, to resort to power and control, rather than doing the work of learning to let-go of control, to know we are part of something bigger, attached to One, who holds us all together.
Richard Rohr writes, “All great spirituality is about letting go. Instead, we have made it to be about taking in, attaining, performing, winning, and succeeding. True spirituality echoes the paradox of life itself. It trains us in both detachment and attachment: detachment from the passing so we can attach to the substantial. But if we do not acquire good training in detachment, we may attach to the wrong things, especially our own self-image and its desire for security.”[6]
What would it look like for leaders today to learn to let-go of our ego and self-image and our desire for security?
[1] Margaret Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science Discovering Order in a Chaotic World, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc, San Francisco, 17.
[2] Margaret Wheatley, Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc, San Francisco, Scribd edition, 18.
[3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/lindsaykohler/2024/02/20/forcing-people-back-to-the-office-companies-should-think-again/, accessed October 7, 2024.
[4] Margaret Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science Discovering Order in a Chaotic World, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc, San Francisco,14, 29.
[5] Margaret Wheatley, Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc, San Francisco, Scribd edition, 80.
[6] https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-spirituality-of-letting-go-2023-04-23/ accessed October 7, 2024.
About the Author
Kally Elliott
Mom of four. Wanna-be Broadway star. PC(USA) pastor. Wife. Friend. Sometimes a hot mess. Sometimes somewhat together. Is this supposed to be a professional bio?9 responses to “Let It Go”
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I love how you connected Wheatley’s ideas to the natural flow of the river—it’s such a perfect metaphor for leadership! And it makes me want to move to BEND!
It’s wild how many organizations are clinging to outdated ways of thinking instead of trusting the adaptability we all learned during the pandemic. I fear that I too am settling back in. Hmmm. Dang.
I’ve settled back in to many pre-pandemic ways but the one I will continue to fight for is a hybrid workplace. I cannot/will not work 9-5 in an office at a work place. If I do, I will surely die. I need to be able to go to the refrigerator a few times an hour to see if anything new is in there. I need to be able to go for a walk if I feel antsy. I need to snuggle my dog. You get the point. I will work in the church office for a few days a week but then I tell my people, the other days I am working from home! (It’s also the only place I can actually get a sermon written.) And yes, Bend is beautiful – and I “read” most of our books by listening to them while hiking. Salem is pretty too though!
Hi Kally,
I appreciate your final question so much, “What would it look like for leaders today to learn to let-go of our ego and self-image and our desire for security?” It’s lovely and freeing to contemplate the answer. It makes me wonder how many leaders lead from that space of ego and self-image because it is expected of them…big personality, amazing insight etc. I think followers play as much of a role in that as leaders. We humans tend to want someone impressive, articulate, attractive, and charismatic to follow, but we also want someone to listen and take action. But leaders, like everyone else need to feel secure. There’s a lot at risk when leading in tense situations. To answer your question, I think the world would be a little safer if we were worried less about ego and image and spent more time working with and naming the chaos to bring change. Interesting to think about and brings to mind new and unpredictable challenges.
Jenny, you are making me think about a situation I am dealing with at church when you say, “I think the world would be a little safer if we were worried less about ego and image and spent more time working with and naming the chaos to bring change.” I’m wondering if I could name the chaos I am seeing and what it might take to bring the change I think the congregation wants.
Your post was beautifully written, Kally.
It also challenged me. While at the same time that I’m decrying our culture for “going back” after learning so much durring covid, like John says above, I’m afraid that I’m reverting in some ways as well.
I agree that leadership should take cues from the natural order of things, but then human nature is kind of broken and we keep wanting to revert to command and control and it feels like it’s been this way through history.
Do you think Wheatley’s ideas have a chance to take root in leadership circles, or is she more of a prophetic voice telling us something we know is right but that we will never actually manifest because it goes against our nature?
Ohhhh Tim! Good question! “Do you think Wheatley’s ideas have a chance to take root in leadership circles, or is she more of a prophetic voice telling us something we know is right but that we will never actually manifest because it goes against our nature?” Off the top of my head, I think she is more a prophetic voice calling us to something better but it’s going to take some serious letting go of egos if it is to take place.
Kally,
What a beautifully written post. I would have been content to read more about your dog and the stick. It was the calmest that I have felt all week. I really appreciate the way you summarized this, “It was at that moment, that I began to understand what I think Margaret Wheatley was saying throughout her two books we read for this week: we need a paradigm shift from seeing leadership as the power to control or dominate life, or as people as cogs in a machine, to working as partners. We can do this by looking to the natural world, where order naturally develops from chaos, where all of life is interconnected, and where we are not in control of anything.” I think that I am on the edge of a paradigm shift. I am remaining prayerful.
Jonita, you really need to come visit me in Bend. It’s beautiful. I “read” most of our books while hiking – listening to them. Also, my dog is pretty fantastic. She’s my favorite.
I’m curious about the paradigm shift you are on the edge of.
It’s difficult to feel calm these days.
What a great post, you had one of my favorite quotes, ‘No problem can be solved from the same level of thinking that created it.’” and one of my favorite thinkers (Rohr) in the same blog. Alot to think about here. What should we let go? One thing I was thinking about while reading the end of your posts on that subject, was what kind of fight would our organizations and society give us if we tried to let go of certain things. Great stuff!