Operations Officer of Epoch Education, Inc. Leader in Organizational & Structural Transformation. Expert Facilitator for ED&I.
If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that the world is full of uncertainty. We’ve experienced a global pandemic, war, rapidly increasing inflation, the “great resignation,” Quiet Quitting and deep political divisiveness. The list of challenges goes on and on. As business leaders, it’s imperative that we find ways to successfully navigate the chaos.
The best way I’ve found to do that is to build an antifragile organization.
You may be familiar with the term “antifragile” already. First coined by Nassim Taleb in his book Antifragile, it refers to things that actually improve when faced with volatility or uncertainty. But how do you start to build an organization that gets better when faced with chaos? The answer may surprise you: You must build an antifragile culture where people aren’t afraid of the things that force them to grow.
In my experience, the key to building an antifragile culture is to find a tool that fosters growth and encourages empathy during any inevitable confusion and chaos. A tool like this can help you and your people to make sense of volatility. More importantly, it helps everyone at your company use that volatility to create something better. Luckily, a tool like this exists. It’s what I call the RIR (recognize, interrupt, repair) Protocol.
Drive Innovation And Productivity
Before we dive into how to use the protocol to build an antifragile culture, I want to share two very important caveats. First, you can’t do this work in a vacuum—everyone needs to take responsibility for creating a new, antifragile way of operating together. Second, it’s imperative when you’re starting out to identify what’s currently working along with what isn’t. Then, you can use the upset to build on what’s effective while leaving what isn’t behind.
With that in mind, let’s take a moment to look at one way that you can start to build an antifragile organization using the RIR Protocol. Bear in mind that this is just one example.
In this example, imagine that you and your leadership team decide that one of the best ways to ensure your organization thrives during wider economic upheaval is to promote innovation. To do that, you realize you need to start taking advantage of the diverse perspectives of your workforce. This conclusion makes sense: Research has shown that diverse workplaces are far more innovative than non-diverse ones. There are multiple reasons for this, including how diverse teams are generally better at nonlinear, novel thinking and have greater adaptability (both of which are necessary for innovation).
However, to experience the power diversity has to drive innovation, your employees must feel psychologically safe to show up authentically. They also need to feel comfortable speaking up, sharing differing perspectives and bringing their unique views to the table. If they don’t, innovation—and antifragility—will suffer.
Utilizing The RIR Protocol
So, you know you want a more innovative business. To achieve that, you know you need to find a way to harness the power of diversity. Here’s where it gets really interesting; whether or not you successfully achieve these outcomes is tied to your culture of communication.
Do the members of your organization engage in compassionate dialogue where the goal is to understand each other and come to a resolution together? Or do they try to label others as wrong, shame them or prove their point?
Far too often, I see organizations default to the latter and then wonder why their workforce struggles with innovation. If that describes your business, then the RIR Protocol could be a great tool to begin developing a culture of more compassionate dialogue (and, therefore, antifragility and the innovation that goes with it).
To see why, consider this scenario: During a meeting, two colleagues with vastly different backgrounds propose different solutions to solve a problem. Each of their perspectives is informed by their life experiences and history. One of them is from an underrepresented group, and the other belongs to a group that historically has experienced greater privilege.
In the meeting, do both people get an equal say? Do both feel equally comfortable sharing their viewpoints? To foster innovation, they must. But if your business doesn’t have a strong culture of compassionate dialogue, one or both of them may feel uncomfortable or find their ideas marginalized.
Recognize, Interrupt And Repair
The first step of the protocol is recognize. Teach your people to ask themselves some key questions: What is the trigger? Are they unsafe or uncomfortable? How does their body react? What emotions are they feeling? What thoughts and beliefs do they have about the situation?
The second step is interrupt. To practice this interruption, coach your people to connect with empathy. You want them to acknowledge the speaker and invite a dialogue that helps clarify the other person’s meaning and intent.
Finally, the last step is repair. If a conversation is difficult or heated, guide your people to find a way to move forward that respects everyone involved. This may include each party taking responsibility for their actions, clarifying expectations and setting healthy boundaries moving forward.
Grow Better And Stronger
One final piece of advice when it comes to building an antifragile organization: To do so successfully, you must accept the fact that sometimes you’ll fail. Don’t let that discourage you, though. It’s often in the failures—in the chaos and uncertainty—that the opportunity to grow stronger lies.
So, embrace it. Help your business become better, stronger and more successful by fostering an antifragile culture rooted in compassionate dialogue. If you do, I believe that you will soon find that your organization is reaping the benefits of a diverse array of perspectives, experiences and viewpoints—all in a way that is authentic and safe for those involved.
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