I’m so over military metaphors.
Especially when talking about being strategic. At some point, you’ve probably gotten advice to get your head out of the details. Think about this a little more strategically, they might say. Look at things from multiple angles. Analyze the algorithm. Strategy is a coveted skill which comes from the Greek word strategikos meaning “of or for a general; fitted for command”.
Given it’s origin, the language of strategy is full of war symbols like tactics, weapons, defenses, opportunities and threats. And I’ve used most of them. No wonder so many of us with collaborative values are burned out from strategically fighting the “man/industry/funders/corporations”. We’re tired of being on the offensive or defensive in the territory of the unknown. (Maybe this explains why some aren’t attracted to developing this as a skill in the first place).
But there’s a different way to talk about strategy that’s more generative. Instead of drawing upon “power over” language (and skills), we can turn to adaptive and creative capacities. You and I both have a natural skill set that can create new shapes and worlds.
Here’s are a few of them to consider for your leadership and life. Each could inspire an intentional practice…
Presence: Can you relax your nervous system enough to be still without urgency? Can you be subtly aware of your breath and body sensations at the same time you’re speaking and listening? Can you feel your feet in a tense meeting? Are you aware of the quality of energy you’re bringing? Presence emerges when you can relax the fight/flight/freeze stress response, get your head up out of the details, and get a wider (more relaxed) view.
Pondering: Can you mull over the hard questions, rather than rushing to answer them right away? Can you temper your love affair with solutionism to really understand the nature of the problem(s) you’re facing? Pondering happens when you grant permission to take your time with the juiciest questions.
Playfulness: Can you make room for play, so you can imagine and transform taken-for-granted assumptions? Can you let down your self-consciousness a little more and risk feeling like an idiot? Can you bravely explore and co-sense with others who think differently than you? Playfulness is more possible when we’re relaxed and curious. When we have time to put our stuckness in perspective so we can risk new shapes.
Patterns: What can you notice now? Where is your attention? What’s here, what’s not? When you’re more relaxed you can discover patterns that are alive now. adrienne marie brown writes of fractals, adaptability, interconnection and decentralized, nonlinear and iterative patterns in her book Emergent Strategy. Instead of tactical language like scattershot, she reminds us of the prolificness of dandelions. Instead of battalions and squads, she speaks of fractals and whole-parts.
Strategy naturally emerges when we slow down our pace and notice the patterns around us. Our capacity to be present, ponder and play together helps us become more discerning, creative and proactive.
In this moment of extraordinary uncertainty- I’m super interested in how an alternative framing of our leadership, systems, and potential for transformation invites resilience and creativity. One that’s more ecological and invites us to know ourselves as part of (not observers to) a relational web.
Presence, pondering, play and pattern discovery feature large in my own life and that of my clients. They invite a posture of change that moves more like a murmuration of swallows than heading a command from a general. I’m all for releasing outdated militarized language from “strategy”. Because if we continue, my hunch is that our approach to solve our problems will continue to be the problem.
