Perspective Transformation

8 minutes and 36 seconds of police brutality, captured on video, on a street in Minneapolis. 8 minutes and 36 seconds that ended the life of George Floyd after he tried to pass a bogus $20 bill at a neighborhood grocery store. 8 minutes and 36 seconds that exposed in full daylight the intolerable, deadly, racial inequities in policing that were for decades hidden behind white doubts and the fear of believing. 8 minutes and 36 seconds that triggered peaceful protests worldwide demanding racial justice and police reform. 8 minutes and 36 seconds that triggered violent rioting, arson and looting here in Minneapolis and in many other cities around the country. 8 minutes and 36 seconds that revealed how completely incapable the President of the United States is in uniting the country. 8 minutes and 36 seconds in the midst of a global pandemic.

This time it’s different. That’s what everyone is saying. And I think they are right. This is a societal explosion, the likes of which has never been witnessed — a tipping point. There is so much to say, and so few words that feel right. Yet, oddly, rising in the aftermath is a sense of hope. In the air is a feeling, a moral obligation to create a more just and equitable future. A platform for real reform is being built.

For me, in addition to the sadness and the hope, there is a personal irony to all that’s been going on. Almost all of my studying and writing in organization development has been about transforming mindsets, including my most recent co-authored journal article. The paper is about perspective transformation and dynamic capabilities, and it was written, reviewed, revised and published in the midst of perhaps the largest single perspective transformation of our times, and when our dynamic capabilities are being tested like never before.

The lens through which our paper views perspective transformation comes from Jazz, an artform that originated with, and has been carried forward by generations of African Americans. We revised the paper to acknowledge how fitting it is to apply a Jazz mindset to the necessary and ongoing work of acknowledging and addressing the ongoing effects of systemic racism.

In addition to this paper, I’ve written about how organization development is situated in “the realm of problems,” especially socially significant problems. Its usefulness to organizations comes from asking better questions and recognizing the profound interconnections between change in a person, change in groups and change in a system. I’ve also written about how organization development started as an intellectual movement responding to oppressive modes of management and over time has continued to provide ways to resolve conflict, to create greater flexibility and resiliency in individuals and help organizations cope with turbulent environments.

I’ve drawn from my background that blends leadership, organization development and the arts in order to hone my unique perspective. I’ve sought wisdom from Martin Luther King, Jr. and August Wilson and their eloquent yet raw writing on race in America. I’ve found support for my views on institutional change in Jeffersonian logic that says laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. And, I’m inspired by the Broadway musical Hamilton for how it has reignited energy into the ideals of American Democracy. Its about history, but also about the world today and I’m inspired by the challenges and opportunities of the present with its lyrics – Look around, Look around, How lucky we are to be alive right now.