Embrace your rebels!
This is a guest blog written by High Performance Specialist Trude Marit Risnes. In ExploCrowd, we see her as an inspiration and a true ‘Leader of the Future’ that can take her organizations beyond what they can imagine.
Do we have anything to learn from Ludwig van Beethoven in this day and age?
The pandemic is not over yet, although some countries are gradually becoming normalized again. We have probably just seen the beginning of the economic repercussions of the pandemic. Therefore, we might describe our time as a time of destiny in the world – and in Norway. The one person who has perhaps best expressed a time of destiny, is the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. In his Symphony No. 5, also called the Symphony of Fate, he expresses destiny using a very few tones; “ta-ta-ta-da”. Simple and at the same time ingenious.
Beethoven's starting point for composing music with destiny as the main theme, is linked to an incipient personal tragedy, namely that he was gradually becoming deaf. The other issue that occupied him greatly was the ever-increasing political unrest and the Napoleonic Wars that ravaged.
There are two reasons why I start my article with Beethoven’s Symphony of Fate: Firstly, I find there are interesting parallels between the time Beethoven composed his Symphony No. 5, and today. And secondly, I believe we may learn something from Ludwig van Beethoven as a person. I will come back to why I recommend everyone to have one or several “Beethovens” in their organization.
Nowadays, we talk a lot about innovation and change. For example, a lot of conversations are about how enormously fast the downturn in oil and gas has taken place, and what the consequences are for other industries as well as public administration. To me, I find there is less talk about how we can professionalize the way we work with learning and performance in different companies.
In a knowledge society like Norway, organizations are assumed to be creative, innovative, capable of change and competent. If this is the case, it is not sufficient to work randomly with employees’ and manager’s knowledge development or settle with the fact that learning primarily takes place through the HR departments’ courses and training programs. To truly succeed with innovation, change and necessary renewal of competence in the future, it will be business critical to establish a professional and effective learning culture where both informal and formal learning is systematized.
A characteristic feature of our time is faster and more frequent changes. It seems that globalization and the competitive situation drives dramatic market changes with greater force than before, which leads to uncertainty. Therefore, we must ask ourselves how to reduce this uncertainty. How can we better prepare ourselves for such powerful market shifts, caused by a pandemic or a financial crisis? One thing we can be certain of, is that new crises will hit mankind – but there will also be new upswings. Even though this may be out of our control, we can always prepare for the coming ups and down to best handle them when they occur.
In my opinion, the smartest thing a company can do is to professionalize its learning culture; how you conduct learning and development work, and how your employees respond to it. Companies with established learning organizations, will to a greater extent experience employees who seek continuous change and development. Such organizations will be better prepared when having to deal with unforeseen events.
Also, stability and as is-strategies will quickly bore knowledge workers who has an inner drive. It almost goes without saying that companies with an established learning culture will cope better with fast changes. Why? Because they have lower resistance to change, it is easier for them to be at the forefront of market changes, and they are better equipped to implement creative processes that end up with innovation. The establishment of a professional learning culture can lead to increased creativity and innovation – because it removes unnecessary control, people are allowed to try and fail, and the hierarchy is as simple as possible.
But how can such professional learning cultures be established?
If I asked those of you who are leaders if you would have recruited a profile with the following characteristics, what would you have answered then?
Living and visionary
Strong personality, which many would describe as demanding
Curious
Border-breaking
Anti-authoritarian
Asks questions about the existing
Believes to have something important to contribute to humanity
Strong urge to create
Ability to be at the forefront of development
Occasionally annoying and can be perceived as disrespectful
These were key features of Ludwig van Beethoven, a musical genius who was several hundred years ahead of his time. I believe all companies need a couple of “Beethoven’s” among their employees – profiles who has it in the backbone to challenge the existing and thereby create friction. Because, in the time of destiny, it's even more crucial that someone asks critical questions about the patterns of action and habits the company has acquired over the last few decades.
We need people with unique abilities to take on future trends and needs.
We need people with good values making sure that new creations strengthen the world’s sustainability, rather than weakening it.
And we need the visionaries – border breaking and curious people with a creative urge as their driving force in life.
But wait a minute, some of you may be thinking. How will our company turn out with Beethoven-profiles all over the place? Isn’t it more important to create peace and harmony, standing together after all that has happened? Of course, it is important to create a minimum of consensus culture. But it is also important giving someone the role of getting the company out of the equilibrium and waking us all up from hibernation before it is too late.
Being ahead of change, is a well-known winning recipe. Still, many leaders and companies stick to their previous winning recipes and status quo. Such people may find “Beethoven’s” both too challenging and uncharming, with the consequence of giving them – consciously or unconsciously – very poor working conditions. Too often, the visionaries and challengers are opposed and pushed aside, often so strongly that the Beethoven-profiles conclude that their behaviour does not pay off. This way, valuable resources are reduced and drawn towards a consensus culture that glorifies earlier work instead of looking into the future.
Change does not happen by itself. Someone needs to lead on and create the necessary friction. And I wonder; have the Beethoven-profiles received too little attention and value for too long? In these times of fate, I believe success leans upon our ability to take care of the few people who can look ahead and takes the trouble of challenging familiar patterns of action.
Inhibit or promote creative joy? If a leader wish to create unique results, and thus bring out the full potential in his or her own organization, I believe one must have employees with creative joy and ability. These are employees who, when you ask them what their driving force is to get to work every day, will answer that it is the urge to create something themselves or with others. Creating something that matters, providing results. Creativity is creative joy. Do you want to rise your organization’s innovation abilities in the future? Then you should ask yourself how well you work with creative processes today.
Employees who are too concerned with following company rules, exercising control, avoiding mistakes, following hierarchical structures, looking over their backs and/or following measurement systems that promote external motivation – well, then you have succeeded to kill creative joy and internal motivation in your organization. This will make the coming restructuring processes more difficult. Why? Because in this kind of working environment, your employees will not be able to realize their potential, be creative, innovative, and vigorous.
Be aware – and take care of the challengers!