Here is a brief excerpt from an article written by John Hagel, one of the most influential thought leaders. He has much of value to share about how to create a workplace culture within which small groups that achieve high impact are most likely to thrive.
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As we enter the first few weeks of what I’ve called the Launch Decade, it’s a good time to explore what we’ll need to launch ourselves into exponentially expanding opportunity for everyone. There’s a lot that will need to come together, but let me focus here on one of the key building blocks – small groups. (I love the paradox: to achieve very large impact, we need small groups.)
I’ve become more and more focused on the importance of small groups to achieving accelerating impact. I’ve explored this in a business context, with our work on business practice redesign for workgroups. I’ve explored this in the context of movements, with the realization that all successful movements are organized into small cells. I’ve also explored this in a broader learning context, with the perspective that creation spaces built around small groups are key to accelerating learning in arenas as diverse as extreme sports and online video games.
To be clear, I’m not talking about all small groups. Most small groups are trapped in narrow context and needs. But certain small groups show the ability to help participants have growing impact and, in the process, achieve far more of their potential as individuals and as a group.
As I’ve spent time exploring these small groups that achieve accelerating impact, I’ve become convinced that they are so important because they help us to address our emotional needs (our heartset) and ultimately to connect with others at a much deeper level (our spiritset) that can cultivate shared passion (specifically, the passion of the explorer). It’s about building deep and enduring (but also evolving) human connection. They do this by achieving a rich balance across dimensions that are often viewed as conflicting.
Balance in time
Regardless of context, the small groups that can set in motion exponential impact do so by focusing on both the long-term and the short-term at the same time. These small groups are constantly looking ahead and framing inspiring opportunities and outcomes that will take a long time to achieve. This inspires participants to act, but it also clearly communicates that the impact of that action will need to expand rapidly if the long-term opportunity and outcome is ever to be achieved. The bar for impact is very high.
That’s the long-term. At the same time, these small groups are relentlessly focused on action they can and need to take in the short-term to yield tangible impact quickly and help to accelerate the learning process. There’s a strong bias for action now, but action that is framed in the context of the longer-term opportunity and outcome.
The small group participants are constantly moving back and forth between a focus on the long-term opportunity and outcomes and committing to achieving impact in the short-term. They are clear that one without the other is useless.
This balance helps to shape the emotions of the participants. By framing an inspiring long-term opportunity, the small group can help its participants to overcome any fear they might have and cultivate excitement and the courage to take action. At the same time, by focusing on high impact moves in the short-term, these small groups can help overcome the skepticism that might naturally arise about a long-term opportunity. They can show tangible impact in the short-term to build confidence that the much bigger, longer-term opportunity is achievable.
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Here is a direct link to the complete article.
John has spent over 40 years in Silicon Valley and has experience as a management consultant, entrepreneur, speaker and author. He is driven by a desire to help individuals and institutions around the world to increase their impact in a rapidly changing world.
In addition to his current role as leader of the Center for the Edge at Deloitte, he has worked with McKinsey & Co. and Boston Consulting Group. He also served as senior vice president of strategy at Atari, Inc., and is the founder of two Silicon Valley startups.
He currently occupies leadership roles at the World Economic Forum and the Santa Fe Institute, and he serves on the faculty of Singularity University.
To learn more about John and his work, please click here.