Questions, ideas & provocations

Reflections on a recent CEO gathering by Oasis Associates Susan Ralphs & Paul Davies

Last week we co-convened a virtual gathering of about 45 CEO’s and senior leaders from a wide range of sectors including housing, the police, health & social care, retail, tech, theatre and the voluntary sector, hosted by Oasis. What came out of that 2-hour session was rich, honest, and emotional.

The broad themes of the discussion can be seen in the illustration accompanying this blog, which was drawn as the discussion developed. Much of the conversation resonated with the ‘5 Responses  to Navigating Uncertainty’, that have been developed recently by Oasis with its partners as a response to the COVID19 pandemic.

During our time together we held a space for issues to develop organically. What followed were stories of the impact COVID19 and what the subsequent lock down has meant, in terms of relationships, organisational culture, decision making, leadership, speed of change, sustainability and innovation.

Our  discussion not only included the immediate impact of the crisis (e.g. on organisational decision making) but also what is emerging about the future -  for the individual, the organisation and the broader systems and communities within which we are working.

Authenticity was seen as critical: “Don’t worry about slick presentations, show colleagues, customers and suppliers that you care, even if its though a computer in your spare room.”

People spoke of incredible open-heartedness and ingenuity in response to the needs around them: “Some things that we thought were impossible have been done.”

“How we want to be defined as a leader will be based on how we act now – be human, speak often, listen more.”

We heard also how this authenticity applies equally across the wider organisation: “How we all behave now in such difficult times, reflects our deeper culture and values.”

Organisations with existing strong foundations and a ‘living close to their values’ approach felt better equipped to cope and adapt under current stress levels. The organisations that have thrived are the ones that have been able to flex between business models rather than stick with the one model they had before the crisis.  Many mentioned that the younger staff have thrived in this time, as hierarchy has diminished and those who are tech-savvy have more authority. The power dynamics have shifted.

Alongside authenticity, we discussed adaptability, resilience, and innovation. People spoke again about the incredible open-heartedness and ingenuity in response to the needs around them. Some things that were thought impossible have been done: the pace at which home working has been established and sustained is remarkable, for example. 

There was much reflection on the speed of change and decision-making currently. For some, changes that had been wanting for years, happened in weeks or even days: some blocks to change had been removed and there could be speedy decision-making, that was welcomed.  Someone said: “There has been 2 years of cultural change in 2 months.” For many, this sense of pace was welcomed and liberating.

At the same time, some also felt that we need time to ‘linger’, to allow some thought and reflection between the crisis and our response to it.  Participants were wanting to explore more ways to carve out time to reflect and not be either tempted or expected to rush to have the answers to everything. People yearned for space for collective reflection and felt that we were all still in the learning phase of this crisis.  Some were comfortable in what we call the ‘liminal space’ and wanted to explore the opportunities being in this state of uncertainty might create, without necessarily any rush to act, yet.

Against this rich background of differences – in focus and in the pace of change - was a collective desire to ‘build back better,’ to re-imagine a different future and perhaps for some pursue a ‘radical re-invention’. This included exploring what this new world might mean in terms of different ways to purpose and organise our work: and also looking at opportunities to discard the unnecessary; we were encouraged to ask of our colleagues “What is it that you’ve not missed having?” 

There was an emphasis on making bold, brave choices, and questions about how to sustain what was good, flexible, and evolutionary when the crisis was over.  Someone reflected: “Magic happens when there is purpose and experimentation – what does it take to sustain this?”

“Is there a sweet spot at this time, when we can fix some of these changes, so they don’t go into reverse – and what does that sweet spot look like?”

Within the ‘build back better’ discussion there was a real desire to learn from the crisis – accept that mistakes will be made, but also try to harness collective intelligence to work on the difficult problems. 

There was a sense that this was the time for ‘whole-person learning’ and the need expressed for accessible whole system peer-learning within the context of living in an uncertain world.

People were wanting to explore solutions that are flexible and can change with the external environment. We might say learning how to navigate through an uncertain world. There was an emphasis on personal and organisational learning and how a greater awareness of how I and others learn is key.

Developing the ‘building back better’ theme, was the desire to bring greater awareness and impetus to sustainability, continuing the positive impact the lock down was having on the environment. This included specific strategies for incentivisation, such as sharing savings on travel costs with staff as a bonus during the crisis. There was an urging for us all  to be bold and use this crisis to take strength from it as a way to  perhaps avoid further pandemics and large scale system-wide events, including a seizing of  the opportunity to make  ‘radical reinventions’ to meet the climate catastrophe.

So, lots of questions, ideas, provocations, offerings came out of this session. No-one has all the answers, but through dialogue and reflection together we hope to create the space to move forwards. Following demand for another session, we will be coming together again in June, with a view perhaps to shape the next session around the emerging themes and questions.