HOW TO THRIVE IN COMPLEXITY
Once upon a simpler time…
…humans dreamed that they could assert control over what we now call complexity. Henry Ford invented the assembly line and we marveled at the efficiencies gained from process and specialization. Our manufactured world of machines, straight lines and hierarchies offered a sense of security and power over the untamable forces of nature that had terrified our ancestors.
We created our own artificial world informed by that fear: fed it and nourished it until it has grown far beyond us. The complexity of global economies -- heck, the complexity of any company bigger than a 2-pizza team – means that even manmade systems behave with wills of their own. Direct and logical interventions fail. We strive ever harder, draining our life force while draining nature of the resources that sustain us. The perfect consumer culture, endlessly chasing, never satisfied.
This simulated culture has an expiration date.
The Great Resignation is a warning sign that we’re not simply tired of our current jobs or employers; we’re tired of the entire system, of the perpetual spinning of the hamster wheel, of soulless disconnection from ourselves and each other and and the natural world. Clearly our so-called “best practices” aren’t working, yet they persist; even the startup ecosystem continues to follow the old rulebook, planting the seeds for eventual friction and failure despite their status-quo-busting intent.
Many of us know that the Matrix isn’t just a movie, but an apt illustration of the collective illusion that has blinded humanity to the truth: that the world is a complex, paradoxical, interdependent whole that will forever resist our attempts to compartmentalize and control. It’s normal and natural to fear this uncertain state; those who fear it the most will choose the blue pill, futilely yet forcefully defending their artificial reality rather than surrender.
But faced with the holy truth of what is, there is nothing else to do but to surrender, no matter how much we wish reality was otherwise. We either surrender to a life-fueling way of working, or die a solitary death by a thousand cuts doing soulless work that slowly drains the joy that is our birthright. And we die in a drawn-out collective suicide as we willfully and blindly pollute and extract and poison our way into extinction.
A new paradigm is calling.
There is freedom, authentic power and thriving for individuals and organizations that choose to operate in accordance with – instead of fighting against -- the fundamentals of the natural world.
I’ll be unpacking the New Laws of Power of gravity, attraction, coherence, flex and flow over the next few months. Like nested dolls, these apply equally to ecosystems, societies, companies, and the individual humans who envision them into being.
The irony is that this shift is so much easier than we think.
Trapped in an existence where everything requires massive effort, beating heads against walls and swimming upstream, the idea that we can actually succeed by simply being ourselves sounds crazy. It’s just one of the many paradoxes that have trapped us in boxes of our own making.
But let the blue-pill-takers keep their boxes; they’ll come around eventually. Instead, we’re talking to the Groundbreakers: the mission-driven mavericks, rebels, bridge-builders, trailblazers and creators. We’re talking to the dot-connectors and unifiers who see the world as interdependent wholes, and the guardians who understand that protection of humanity requires change.
We don’t need to convince you; you’ve already been struggling to lead us into a brave new future. You know the old tools and so-called best practices inherited from Ford don’t work, but you also don’t have confidence in the current alternatives. Too often in rejecting the old, we cling to their opposite (looking at you, agile) in a fierce either/or battle instead of navigating between polarities to a third, more honest way.
OUR MISSION
Our mission at Groundbreaking is to empower you to make the impact that you were born to make. And we do it by getting back to the fundamentals of the natural system in which we are a part… overlaying the power principles in natural ecosystems with what works in business and within ourselves to reveal the golden threads, like mycelium under the earth, connecting it all. We’re making the invisible, visible.
The first step is being open to the ultimate paradoxical yet logical truth: That change starts within, the outer world always mirroring the inner:
That who we are as individuals literally shapes the world around us, intentionally or not, with no separation between you and the company you’re striving to create and grow.
That when we fail to integrate ourselves – including our emotions and the extended neural networks in our bodies – we not only cut ourselves off from most of our intelligence, but also fail to integrate our lives and businesses into coherent wholes.
That no external strategy, no matter how spot-on, will lead to successful goal achievement unless it’s grounded in the lived experience and identity of the leader.
That organic company growth is rooted in the personal growth of both leadership and employees, and a culture of well-being will always outperform one of burnout.
That the measure of regeneration you apply to your own life and self-care will ripple out to become a regenerative growth engine for your entire company and extended ecosystem.
Start with Who is the soil on which Groundbreaking is founded. To break ground in the world, we first must break ground within ourselves, deepening the roots that nourish big visions. This is all about authentic identity, embracing who we are and taking our rightful place in the tapestry of humanity, allowing what wants to be born through us.
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Will you join us in our Groundbreaking revolution to create a more human future of work?
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If you’re a founder CEO or leader of an independent business unit, talk to us about our flagship program, Start with Who, which establishes the most fruitful soil in which to grow your business naturally: leader/team/customer fit.
If you’re a talented dot-connecting coach who is fluent in the unspoken language of somatics and emotions, who has a compulsive need to knit what’s been artificially separated into whole cloth, I’d love to chat with you about near-term collaboration with longer-term full-time potential.
