{"id":21964,"date":"2019-03-01T16:52:10","date_gmt":"2019-03-02T00:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=21964"},"modified":"2019-03-01T16:52:10","modified_gmt":"2019-03-02T00:52:10","slug":"an-artifact-in-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/an-artifact-in-development\/","title":{"rendered":"An Artifact In Development"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having just returned from an inspiring leadership conference, Jennifer Garvey Berger and Keith Johnston\u2019s text, Simple Habits for Complex Times:\u00a0 Powerful Practices for Leaders, <\/em>resonates positively with me.\u00a0 Berger and Johnston offer twenty-first century insight into leadership practice.\u00a0 Specifically the authors focus on the importance of active listening (this is a social work term but clearly applies to Berger and Johnston\u2019s leadership research), vision, and direction (without too much constraint).\u00a0 \u201cWhen the authors address listening, for example, they suggest most people think good listening answers the question of “What does this message mean to me?” In reality, the authors say, excellent listeners should be asking, “What is this person’s purpose, intent, hope in delivering this message? What does this message mean to him?” As for vision, the authors write, “It turns out that a leader in a\u00a0complex<\/strong>\u00a0world needs a vision that is directional without imposing too much (or too little) constraint on people.”[1]<\/a>\u00a0 I would guess that the majority of leaders are just the opposite \u2013 they have a sense of \u201cI talk, you listen\u201d as well as their own (or the businesses) vision which is imposed with significant defined restrictions.\u00a0 A good understanding of human behavior (a combination of psychology, sociology, and systems theory) will reinforce Berger and Johnston\u2019s premise.\u00a0 People want to be heard.\u00a0 People want an opportunity to use their creativity to problem solve and innovate, and people want flexibility in their schedules.<\/p>\n

Even though research repeatedly indicates that workers\/employees desire this type of leadership, directors\/CEO\u2019s\/supervisors often miss the mark.\u00a0 Many of these same leaders have undergone leadership training and study, yet he\/she still fail to execute a twenty-first century approach.\u00a0 Why is it so challenging?\u00a0 Perhaps the answer can be found through Berger and Johnston\u2019s emphasis on David Snowden\u2019s Cynefin Framework\u2026the need for leaders to practice habits of mind that are “deliberately developmental” and grow “head space,” polarities thinking, action learning, adult developmental theory and more and woven these important topics together in a clear, lucid way.[2]<\/a>\u00a0 Rather than living a life of self-awareness and insight, leaders tend to be workaholics who don\u2019t take time to practice habits of mind.<\/p>\n

The authors use David Snowden\u2019s Cynefin framework, which he describes in the Cognitive Edge. This approach involves sorting unpredictable and predictable elements into the complex, the complicated, the chaotic and the simple. The approach they propose involves our staying in the present and unfolding our actions as the present becomes clear.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Asking different questions (instead of having the answers),<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. Taking multiple perspectives (even when we disagree), and<\/em><\/li>\n
  3. Seeing systems (including emergence).[3]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There are several lessons on leadership to be taken from Berger and Johnston\u2019s text \u2013 but specifically I want to apply their leadership work to refugee resettlement in the United States.\u00a0 In Goody\u2019s article, Migrants and Refugees: Christian Faith and the Globalization of Solidarity, <\/em>he points out how \u201cwe have not only lost a sense of empathy toward others in pain, but we have lost a sense of our interconnection with each other\u201d.[4]<\/sup><\/a> Goody goes on to say \u201cThe global challenges of migration are not only an opportunity for the church to express its values in new and creative ways, but it also provides creative opportunities for the God of life to transform the church and to deepen its commitment to the work of justice and peace\u201d.[5]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0This is exactly what the Cyafin framework proposes \u2013 ask questions, take multiple perspectives, and apply systems theory.<\/p>\n

    While the Cyafin framework is ideal, my research indicates that stakeholders developing programs and services for refugees in the United States are doing just the opposite.\u00a0 Rather than rely on refugees self-identified needs, experiences, culture, trauma, and spirituality, stakeholders take an \u201cAmericanized\u201d perspective on what is needed to create a successful resettlement.\u00a0 Stakeholders create a resettlement system, expect refugees to \u201cbuy-in\u201d to this system, and then are discouraged when the system isn\u2019t working.\u00a0 Somali refugees report negative cultural beliefs and stereotypes about \u201csocial service involvement\u201d \u2013 whether it\u2019s the education system, children services, or mental health services. These cultural stigmas prevent acquisition of services.\u00a0 If stakeholders change their leadership method to the Cyafin framework, I believe the resettlement services and programs would be more appropriately tailored to refugee needs, which would in turn elicit buy-in from refugees.\u00a0 The struggle to connect stakeholder services to refugee needs is the inspiration for my artifact under development.\u00a0 My goal is to create an assessment tool (informed by Somali refugees\u2019 definition of resilience) to be used in the first year of resettlement.\u00a0 Rather than rely on Americanized understanding of successful resettlement, it\u2019s imperative to rely on refugees understanding of their OWN resilience.<\/p>\n

    I leave you with this thought as a fellow Christian – the extensive needs of Somali refugees points to this directive – \u201cGod wants our lives to overflow with mercy, love, and compassion \u2014 the marks of His kingdom. As followers of Jesus, we have a choice: respond to unsettling realities in fear and withdraw, or follow Him in responding to the greatest needs of our day with love and hope. We know salvation doesn\u2019t depend on works, but we also know that caring for those in need is evidence of a faith that changes lives.\u201d[6]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

    [1]<\/a> \u201cSimple Habits for Complex Times Powerful Practices for Leaders.\u201d\u00a0Kirkus Reviews<\/em>\u00a083, no. 10 (May 15, 2015): 7.<\/p>\n

    [2]<\/a> https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Simple-Habits-Complex-Times-Practices-ebook\/product-reviews\/B00T0392IY\/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_hist_4?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&filterByStar=four_star&pageNumber=1<\/p>\n

    [3]<\/a> http:\/\/integralleadershipreview.com\/13366-819-jennifer-garvey-berger-and-keith-johnston-simple-habits-for-complex-times-powerful-practices-for-leaders\/<\/p>\n

    [4]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Groody, Daniel G. “Migrants and Refugees: Christian Faith and the Globalization of<\/p>\n

    Solidarity.”\u00a0International Review Of Mission<\/em>\u00a0104, no. 401, pg.317<\/p>\n

    [5]<\/a> Groody, Migrants and Refugees<\/em>; pg.\u00a0 320<\/p>\n

    [6]<\/a> https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/christian-faith-news-stories\/matthew-25-prayer-reflection<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Having just returned from an inspiring leadership conference, Jennifer Garvey Berger and Keith Johnston\u2019s text, Simple Habits for Complex Times:\u00a0 Powerful Practices for Leaders, resonates positively with me.\u00a0 Berger and Johnston offer twenty-first century insight into leadership practice.\u00a0 Specifically the authors focus on the importance of active listening (this is a social work term but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1464],"class_list":["post-21964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-berger-and-johnston","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21965,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21964\/revisions\/21965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}