What I learned about culture change from playing Solitaire
In this fast-paced world with all its distractions, it pays to take our learnings where we can.
One of Richard’s disciplines when travelling is to take a few moments to play Solitaire on his phone. It helps him notice his patterns, impatiences and frustrations.
One of my disciplines when I'm travelling is to take a few moments to play Solitaire (otherwise known as Patience) on my phone. It's not quite as meditative as using an actual deck of cards, but it's an exercise in noticing my own patterns, impatiences and frustrations and understanding where they come from, how they play out in my day-to-day life and - hopefully - getting better at letting them go.
Recently, though, I was struck by quite how much of the art of Solitaire has in common with the more complex art of managing cultural change.
It takes patience. The more tightly and urgently you grasp it, the more frustrating it becomes.
The ease and the pace vary over time. At one point you're skipping along and it's all coming together; then you're cycling through cards you've seen before wondering if you'll find the key that unlocks the next leap forward.
Some starting points seem more favourable than others but the opening stack rarely predicts the outcome. Sometimes it feels like you've got the 'perfect' set of cards to start and you're off on a roll but, halfway through, there's no way to win the hand. Other times, it's a slow slog from the beginning and then "bam!": a sudden cascade in the right direction.
The top and bottom are critical. Choosing whether to lead change from the top or build it from the ground up is a hiding to nothing. Everyone in the hierarchy needs to be on board - the 2s, the 5s, the 7s, the 9s - but if those Kings, Queens and Aces at the top and the bottom aren't engaged, the energy for change will either leak out of the bottom or come gushing out of the top.
One card can make all the difference. There are moments when you need a card from the 'stock pile' to open up the 'tableau', but that essential card in the stock pile sits beneath another - like the red Jack beneath the five of spades, below. There's no predicting what that top card in the stock pile will be. And whether it proves to be a blocker or an enabler depends on a combination of: a) the qualities of that card; b) the way you respond to it; c) everything else that's going on right now; d) everything that's come before.
There's not always space for all the kings and queens. Sometimes true change requires some tough decisions, which means ensuring we have the right people at the top and that everyone's held accountable for their role in 'being the future we want to see'.
You can undo a bit, but not a lot. Mistakes come with the territory and, with enough good will and momentum, we can retreat, regroup and press on. But that good will and momentum is finite.
Not every deck is a winner. While I could, if I wanted, set my phone so every hand can be won with the right approach, that's probably not the case with cultural change. The statistics on cultural change suggest that the best we can do with some 'decks' is aim for progress rather than a perfect outcome. If that sounds defeatist, then I hope it encourages you to work harder to prove me wrong.
We often fail to celebrate our successes. When I win the game on my phone, I'm greeted with a cascade of swirling playing cards. Too many organisations take too little time to pause and say "Well done" before clicking the 'Play' button and starting another game.
You can always ask for hints and tips. There's an awful lot written on the topic of cultural change and most people have a view. When we seek out and listen to the wisdom and sage advice in and around our organisations, we massively increase our chances of success. We just need to learn to tell the wisdom from the whinges and the sage from the snake oil.
So there you have it: my musings from the London Underground on what Solitaire has to teach us about cultural change. There are marked differences between the two, for sure. Unlike with Solitaire, there's no single definition of success when it comes to cultural change, no single well-defined end state. Neither is cultural change a transition from one steady state to another. Perhaps that's why the 'State A to State B' process of Solitaire is such a comforting distraction!
But I'm not just here to play with a metaphor. I'd also encourage you to be fully present from time to time. To play your equivalent of Solitaire, noticing how it - and your reactions to it - are a microcosm of so many other things in your life. Noticing how that moment of doing something small might be a source of creativity and inspiration for you and others.
In doing so, you're working on your capacity for 'self-relating'. It's one of the four capacities at the heart of my book with Karen Ellis - capacities that are essential in a world that's messier than ever.
Richard Boston is the author of ARC Leadership and The Boss Factor, and co-author of Upgrade with Karen Ellis. Upgrade, released in June 2019, helps readers upgrade their internal 'operating system' in the face of increasing complexity. The result is a book that transforms how we see and respond to ourselves, other people and the world around us. All three books are available from our BOOKS page, either to buy or to read some free chapters.
