Giants Continue with Peter Block

“if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

1675 letter by Isaac Newton:

Early in my leadership career I read Peter’s Empowered Manager.  Here is a graphic to determine whether those are low or high agreement and low or high in trust. It may not be on every issue, and it can save a leader lots of time and energy identifying where to focus.

This has been fundamental organizer for me over the years, and I am glad I read it in the 90s.

Critical skills are agreement and trust

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Lower Left – Adversaries – they neihter trust you nor agree with you.  Yes, you have to deal with them.  Explain your positions and spend the least amount of time trying to convince them.

“Never spend time with people who don’t respect you” Maori Proverb

Upper Left – Bedfellows – they agree with you as long as they get what they want.  Basically, they are fairweather friends on issues.  They are important and many times can be convinced of positive agendas.

Upper Right – Allies – they carry your water from time to time.  Sometimes leaders don’t spend enough time with them. They need reassurance, support, and time to explain their approaches, beliefs, and values.  Don’t take them for granted.  They also give you energy when you engage them in the discussions and plans.

Lower Right – Opponents – I believe they are your most important group.  Who are the people you trust (whether or not you like them) and who will tell you the truth?  These are your stakeholders and best feedback loop available.  They can keep you from making major errors.

When coming into a new building or organization, I want to find the opponents quickly.  They tend to stand back to see if they can trust you as a leader.  I urge you to stay connected with this group.  They will serve you well in the long term. Find Them.  Listen to Them. You may still go ahead with a plan and they can uncover potential ‘rocks in the road.’

In Peter Block’s book Stewardship, started to change my perspective from a hierarchical leader in a position of authority and final judge to a more inclusive and shared leadership approach.  As Pink, Harlow, Deci, Hargreaves, etc. have written, knowledge workers respond to a different motivations than top-down, command-and-control.  Here are a few gems from this book.  I highly recommend Block’s view to widen the lens of individual and organizational development.

• Success in the future will depend on organizations that can create new knowledge that results in innovative product and services in the marketplace.
• Stewardship is defined as the willingness to be accountable for the well-being of the larger organization by operating in service, rather than in control, of those around us. Stated simply, it is accountability without control or compliance.
• The major obstacle to reform is our tendency to externalize the problem.
• If there is no transformation inside each of us, all the structural change in the world will have no impact on our institutions.
• Performance appraisals are an instrument for social control. Besides not being conducive to learning, performance appraisals as we know them are a mistake from the viewpoint of accountability.  We should be appraised by those to whom we are accountable.  Stewardship means accountability to those we have power over.  If you insist on having an appraisal process, let people be appraised by their customers. If we want Stewardship turn it around. Those direct reports can evaluate the leader.  [This is what Stakeholder Centered Coaching by Goldsmith and Wagner is about.  Those you supervise are the ones receiving your leadership and in the best position to acknowledge positive leadership.]
• What truly matters in our lives is measured through conversations. Our dialogue with customers, employees, peers, and our own hearts is the most powerful source of data about where we stand.

“Just because you own the land, doesn’t mean you own the people”  Philippine Saying

Reframing some conversations was the focus of the book, The Answer to HOW is YES. Block provided a structure to engage others rather than relying on positional authority. This has been a major coaching skill that I learned and teach consistently. Here are a few suggestions from Peter’s book.  I also recommend his book for a full understanding and the power of questions.

• Start asking the right question, rather than what is the right answer.
• When we ask how to do something, it assumes we don’t know. Getting the question right may be the most important thing we can do.

A few more examples:

• What refusal have I been postponing? If we cannot say no, then our yes means nothing.  Machines are consistent, people are not – they only try to be. Have we freely chosen to follow their directions, or do we do so out of compliance and a fear of refusing?
• What commitment am I willing to make? If change is to occur, it will come from my own free choice, not from the investment of the institution or the transformation of others. Every call that comes in has a consequence and will require more of us than we originally imagined.  This is the test for the pursuit of what matters.
• What is the price I am willing to pay? Money is the least of the cost. Time is a big issue.
• What is my contribution to the problem I am concerned with? This is an antidote to our helplessness.  This question shifts the nature of accountability.  We are not a spectator
• What do we want to create together? We are in an interdependent world. Looking at creating shifts us to cause, not effect.

How to Yes is a shift from “What works?” to ”What matters?”  Notice the locus of control shifts from outside to inside, from practice to intentions, from the strategic to the personal.

The Collective Possibility.  The task of the social architect is to design and bring into being organizations that serve both the marketplace and the soul of the people who work within them. Where the architect designs physical space, the social architect designs social space.

THE BONUS QUESTION:  What is the question that, if you had the answer, would set you free?

I was fortunate enough to see Peter in person at a workshop in St. Paul, MN after reading some of his books where he asked that question of us.  The exercise we did was jaw dropping.  This bonus question has made a difference for me and others I have coached.  Use it wisely.  I start with the phrase stem, ‘What question, if you had the answer to…would help you be a better leader…would help the leadership team be more effective…would help students learn better…  Use the stem and focus on a real behavior solution.

I must admit, I did my own personal search for over several months trying to answer the bonus question for myself.  This took many hours of reflection. Thank You Peter.

At this point, Skip (a former giant and co-founder of Learning Omnivores,) and I started attending Mt. Madonna retreats in CA.  Peter joined Angeles Arrien (a former giant I wrote about).  All I can say is WOW! Deep discussions, artistic summaries, music to lighten the soul, at the school on top of a mountain. These retreats had deep discussions about important personal and educational topics.

Both Angeles and Peter are exquisite conveners of conversations.  Peter has written at least three editions of the Flawless Consulting book.  Skip and I hosted two different Learning Omnivore sessions with Peter in Cincinnati.  Not only did he lead with a few thoughts, he created the container for transfer of knowledge and skills for the participants. He modeled community.  I remember:

• he would ask a question
• tell us to find two people we know the least
• sit with our knees 6 inches apart
• and have the conversation
• then we would debrief as whole group in a circle

I have not read his latest books YET.  Activating the Common Good and Confronting our Freedom.

The last learning I will share in this article on this giant learner is from the book on Community.  Below are a few nuggets.  Surprise:  READ THE BOOK.

• To make a difference in our community, we must begin by naming the existing context and evolving to a way of thinking that leads to new conversations that produce a new context. It is the shift in conversation that increases social capital. Every time we gather becomes a model of the future we want to create. If you really get this paragraph, you probably don’t need to read any further.
• A corollary to more laws is the push for more oversight. We think that more watching Improves performance.
• Restoration is created by the kinds of conversations we initiate with each other. These conversations are the leverage point for an alternative future. The core question that underlies each conversation is “What can we create together?” Shifting the context from retribution to restoration will occur through language that moves in the following directions:

From problems                                                To possibilities

From fear and fault                                        To gifts, generosity, and abundance

From law and oversight                                  To social fabric and chosen accountability

From leaders                                                  To citizens

“To gain the kingdom of heaven is to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen,

and to know the unknowable.”                                                  Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani

Questions with GREAT Power.

• What is the commitment you hold that brought you into this room?
• What is the price you or others pay for being here today?
• How valuable do you plan for this effort to be?
• What is the story you keep talking about the problems of this community?
• What are the gifts you hold that have not been brought fully into the world?
• What is your contribution to the very thing you complain about

I am reminded of a quote by John Kenneth Galbraith: “Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.”

When indiviuals or commuities are more committed to being right than to creating an alternative future, then nothing we do can make much of a difference.

From John McKnight:  Communities are built from the assets and gifts of their citizens, not from the citizens’ needs or deficiencies. Organized, professionalized systems are capable of delivering services, but only associational life is capable of delivering care. Sustainable transformation is constructed in those places where citizens choose to come together to produce a desired future.

Peter Block still hosts podcast.  I encourage you to seek out his books, articles, and social media.  He can help us focus on what is important and to regain a sense of belonging through community.  His work has helped me be a better leader and human being,  I am grateful to Peter Block for teaching me and being a force for good in the world.

References

Block, P.  (1987).  The empowered manager.  San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Block, P.  (1993).  Stewardship – choosing service over self-interest. San Francisco:  Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Block, P. (2002). The answer to how is yes.  San Francisco:  Berrett-Koehler.

Block, P. (2009). Community: The Structure of Belonging. San Francisco:    Berrett-Koehler Publishing, Co.

Block, P. (2011). Flawless Consulting. (3rd edition).  San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass.