Can you move beyond your tribe?

Another day of great speakers at IABC, but my favourite has to be the general session delivered by Jennifer James, an urban cultural anthropologist who works with boards and high-level executive groups on strategic planning and international problem solving.

Given Melcrum's recent research into managing successful change communication, this one really struck a chord. Jennifer was talking about the difficulty we all face trying to adapt to rapid change - an unavoidable reality of the fast-changing, technology-driven world we live in. The insights shared in this session could be applied to organizational change, personal change, cultural change - any situation where people are facing a world that changes so rapidly they can no longer identify with their environment.

She spoke about how in times of great change we become tribal, retreating into what we know and understand. But to adapt and survive we need to move beyond our "tribe" and question the cultural mythologies we hold on to. This is why visionary leadership is so important during times of change, as the natural tendency is to go backwards.

Jennifer also spoke about how trying to communicate in world of great change - organizational or otherwise - requires heroism. The heroic leaders who guide people through change will be the ones who can communicate a compelling story about the need for change. To be compelling that story must have three things: a set of ideas that fit with reality, an ability to resonate with deeply held values, and a narrator who is authentic and believable.

A really inspiring presentation that covered too much to cover in a blog, but I'll be looking for ways to share some of that thinking in future articles and research.