I had the honor and priveledge to hear the 14th Dalai Lama speak yesterday as he was receiving the 2010 International Freedom Conductor Award. As you can imagine, he had lots of interesting things to say.
At one point, he was talking about censorship in China and spoke about how a lack of transparency has led to an absense of trust between China and other countries, as well as within Chinese society.
It struck me how this same dynamic happens within organizations during change. We have been advising leaders for years to open up, tell people what is going on, and be transparent… during business as usual and especially during major change. Keeping secrets and guarding information degrades trust and inhibits the ability to build trust in the future. It’s like pouring poison on the ground – it kills what is there, and keeps anything from growing there in the near future.
As an undergrad studying OD at the University of Michigan in the early 90s, I also heard him speak. I was struck then about his insistence that force (and compliance in organizational settings) cannot create sustainable change.
Nice to see he has a consistent message almost 20 years later.
The parallels between his teachings and organizational change are countless. You are so right – force does not bring about real change – ESPECIALLY in an organization. Force may bring about fear, it may bring about subversion, it may even bring about compliance… but it certainly is not a platform for building an engaged and productive workforce! If a leader wants a surefire way to torpedo employee engagement… he or she should start running around spouting edicts and directives!