In one of my courses last term I learned a great deal about the importance of context when reviewing and evaluating everything from sacred texts to popular literature. One course, in particular, opened up a whole new world for me in how I read, study, and apply principles from what I am reading. Where once I would call myself a reluctant literalist, I now believe that I have taken on new learning skills that allow me to look far past that which is on the surface of written materials, and go deeper into the context in which it has been written. The original audience as well as today’s, the cultural background, and how what is written lines up with the author’s other written work and the work of contemporaries all play an important role in what something in print was actually meant to say, and it is especially important for today’s application. In many ways, learning how to interpret on this level has been quite the epiphany, and I will never read the same way again. In that “leaders are readers,” this experience will also have a big effect on how I lead. The big lesson for me was that context matters.
Similarly to this experience, I have found another profound train of thought which will equally affect my continuing education. I am currently reading some of the many books and materials for my next term and I just finished one which, though written over 50 years ago, I will apply to how I process the materials I am studying. It has everything to do with the process that paradigms take, first to be accepted by a group, then more importantly, how they are replaced by new schools of thought which become the new paradigm. As I read the book for the first time, I began to compare the lessons on paradigm acceptance to the world in which I am a leader. As the book explained well, groups latch on to paradigms through which they are able to explain their beliefs, justify their actions, and defend their positions, even if there are gaps in their reasoning and flaws in their behavior. Once a paradigm is in place, it becomes very difficult to change because the group is so identified with it. This is one of the reasons why organizational change is so difficult to implement. Aside from the natural tendency for humans to fear what they aren’t sure of or feel is threatening to their well-being, change of paradigm strikes at the very core of their identification with a group and shakes their feelings of security. The book dealt mostly with paradigms in the natural sciences, which have an advantage when dealing with change, because as science progresses, new discoveries replace existing beliefs and eventually a new paradigm is accepted. This is more difficult in all other areas, since often change isn’t a matter of simply adopting a new set of proven facts, but rather following a leader who very well may be following their gut about what they believe their organization needs to move forward. Often, a paradigm shift for leaders is less about facts and more about inspired commitment to a new way of doing things.
I believe that leaders have the responsibility to help the people in their care see the benefits of shifting from an old paradigm to a new one so that as our world changes, we can be as effective as possible. We all know that progress and sustained success never happens if all we continue to do is the same old thing. Paradigms must continually adapt. For me, I can directly relate this to my epiphany that context matters. As I move forward, I will study and learn with a new paradigm toward learning, one that is much more open to hearing a broader view, and I hope that it will result in my becoming a much better leader. I hope you will consider it, too.
Lead well.