NSL Blog

Zaid Hassan: sensing, and connecting to a whole reality

January 8, 2014

I am came across this lovely insight by Zaid
 Hassan,
 in The
 U: 
A 
Language 
of
 Regeneration. As Russ Ackoff said a hole is spelt with a W. In my journey this reality that others cannot see the whole, happens 99% of the time in organizations, as Deming points to the 94/6 rule, where 94% of problems can be traced to the process and only 6% to the person – when systems are fixed. Therefore sensing the entire system is key.

The failure 
to 
see
 is 
often 
the
 biggest 
barrier 
towards 
tackling 
our 
challenges.
 The
 dilemma 
we’re 
faced
 with 
in
 coping 
with
 the 
modern
 world
 is 
that 
things 
are 
so 
complex
 and
 so fast 
moving 
that 
it’s
 very 
difficult 
to
 get 
a
 picture 
of 
the 
whole, 
it’s 
very 
difficult 
to 
see.
 When 
we
 don’t 
have 
a 
picture 
of 
the
 whole,
 when 
we’re 
not 
even
 questioning 
what 
part
 of 
the 
picture 
we’re
 seeing,
 we 
end 
up
 arguing 
strenuously
 from our
 position
 of
 “truth”.
 We’re 
willing 
to 
invest
 massive 
amounts
 of 
time 
and
 energy 
on
 solutions
 based 
on
 the 
assumption 
that 
what 
we’re
 “seeing”
 is 
a
 whole,
 when 
in
 fact 
it 
may
 well
be
 a 
very
 small
 part of
 the 
whole.
 We
 stand 
in
 these positions
 and 
fight 
from 
them,
 typically
 unable 
to 
understand 
why 
other
 people
 are
 not 
seeing
 what
 we 
are.
 The
 essence
 of
 this
 problem
 is 
one 
of
 perception.
 The
 purpose
 of 
the
 Sensing
 phase 
is
 to 
open
 ourselves
 up 
to
 reality, 
to
 uncover 
reality
 and 
to 
try
 and
 see 
the
 whole
 system
 we’re 
a 
part 
of.

The position of personal “truth” that Hassan speaks of, has an alternative that there is outside of ourselves a reality which does exist. And the problem is that the philosophy of a mechanistic, numbers led society is reductive, increasingly so in its quest for efficiency – seeing the world as inanimate and not as Lee Smolin, or Tøke Moller, or Deming as wholes – as complex dynamic systems.

Seeing together: it is when this personal truth falls away when a group can see together collectively that extraordinary things happen. I am not saying that from a position of theory, but from being part of and witness to this process. It is for many people an impossible idea yet it is part of this philosophy of how we can meaningfully approach the challenges of transformation.

Journey further

• High performance organizations through respect for people
• Russ Ackoff, a system is a hole with a W
• True knowledge exists in a network
• Participatory Leadership and transformational change in Scotland
• Exploring the future potential of Scotland
• Lee Smolin and Robert MacFarlane seeing the power and potential of a chaotic world