In December 2011, cbsnews.com published an article by Dave Logan, Ph.D., author of Tribal Leadership, suggesting that “work-life balance “ is a crock, an idea whose time has come and gone. Although I too have felt that this is an unrealistic ideal, I’m not so sure that I could clearly articulate what I do believe about this idea. I decided to take a look at some other current commentators writing about work and life balance. Here’s a sample of what I found:

David Greuse at Convergence Design, noted that “…we reject the notion of work-life balance, although we take the idea very seriously. To us, the phrase ‘work-life balance’ suggests that ‘work’ and ‘personal life’ are two separate categories that must be kept in separate containers lest a toxic mixture result. We believe the opposite: that work and personal and community commitments should be merged into a seamless whole that might be called ‘life’. Work is not antithetical to life: it is an integral part of life.”1

John Beeson in a recent Harvard Business Review blog noted that for senior level execs there is no such thing as work-life balance. He says your work consumes all your waking (and most of your sleeping) hours. The best you can hope for is a power nap. Guess that leaves me out…

Edy Greenblatt says we should be asking a different question. Instead of wondering whether you have balance or not, we should look at all the facets of our lives and ask how we are performing. Are we fully engaged? Are we physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused, and connected to something significant in life? If the answer to any of these is no, one of our “muscles” likely needs to be developed.  The key is to identify what restores us and depletes us.  In both work and non-work activities, we must do more of what we find restorative.

Sherrie Bourg-Carter, author of a book on what she calls “High-Octane Women” says the bottom line is that balance needs to be self-defined; it’s what works for you and your family. If you allow it to be anything else, you’re only adding another thing to your “to-do” list.  And frankly, isn’t that list full enough?

Personally, the comment that resonated most with me was a few lines sent to me by a friend. I don’t think she wrote this but wise woman that she is, perhaps she did.  The comment was “Start with what’s scarce: time.  You only get so much, and you can’t hit ‘undo’.  Some things are abundant.  Time is not one of them.  The goal is to get so focused on what’s vital, that you get in the regular habit of saying ‘I don’t have time for that’  to anything that doesn’t serve what really matters.  Don’t fall into the trap of thinking there’s ‘work’ and ‘life’.  There’s only life.”

Here are just a few references if you want to read more on this topic:

Bourg-Carter, S. (2011). High Octane Women: How Superachievers Can Avoid Burnout (Prometheus Books, 2011).

Greenblatt, E. (2009). Restore Yourself: The Antidote for Professional Exhaustion. Los Angeles, CA. Execu-Care Press.

Footnotes
1 The Myth of Work-Life Balance: http://www.convergencedesignllc.com/blog/index.php/the-myth-of-work-life-balance/

A version of this blog was previously published at www.wcleadership.com.

As part of my commitment to my own professional development, a few months ago I attended a certification training program on effective practices in organizational change and leadership development. Although it required more time commitment than usual on my part, I found the experience well worth it. I would make the same decision again if I had it to do over. So when I heard that the Human Systems Dynamics Institute  was bringing its HSDP Certification Training Program to Portland in January 2012, I wanted to share my experiences and how the HSD methodology has positively impacted my practice and my work with my clients.

Human Systems Dynamics brings together theory and practice to effectively respond to today’s unpredictable, complex and emergent environments.  Rooted in complexity science, HSD incorporates a system of simple strategies that help to make sense of the patterns that emerge from chaos when people work and play together in groups, families, organizations, and communities.

Human Systems Dynamics is based on the premise that we interact in complex adaptive systems on a daily basis, in our personal and professional life.  Glenda Eoyang, founder of the HSD Institute, and Thomas Berkas, Ph.D, define complex adaptive systems as consisting of

interdependent agents, [where] the behavior of each agent conforms to a short list of simple rules, and the group of agents exhibits emergent, system-wide patterns of behaviors.

Recognizing these patterns of behaviors and how they influence the actions of groups and/or organizations helps us to understand the dynamics at play. From that recognition and understanding, we can apply simple rules to guide the behaviors of each person or team member in the organization, and in turn, lead to better and more effective working relationships.

In my practice, HSD has made an indelible impact on my approach with organizational systems and individuals.  Sharing the concepts and methods of HSD with my clients has had considerable influence on how my clients think about and work in organizational systems and, in turn, has brought about effective change in their organizations.

I recently facilitated a meeting with a group of managers who needed to create closer working relationships in order to effectively support their Agile teams and continue their enterprise IT Agile adoption efforts. To help them think about the culture and system they wanted to evolve, I introduced a short series of models and methods from complexity science and HSD that helped them to visualize their current system, describe their desired system, and choose next steps to move into an emerging future. By applying HSD processes, the group was able to move forward successfully.

I will be attending the HSDP Certification Training Program in Portland on January 18-20, 2012, as a volunteer Teaching Assistant (TA). The training consists of 10 full-days broken in three sessions (Jan, Feb, and Mar). Don’t let the time commitment dissuade you; it is well-worth it.

If you think this is something that would benefit you and your organization, consider registering for the training.  Or send me an email: dlarsen@futureworksconsulting.com.  I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have or share information about my experiences with HSD.*

For additional Information on HSD, please check the following resources:

- Human Systems Dynamics Institute

- Options for Action: Power point presentation by Glenda Eoyang which describes paradoxes found in human systems dynamics.

- Simple Rules: Organizational DNA: This article by Royce Holladay describes the power of Simple Rules to establish patterns in organizations.

- Free webinars on HSD can be accessed here.

- Additional articles on HSD can be found here.

*Note: As FYI - I have no financial stake in this workshop or the institute, nor will I gain any additional benefit from it’s presence in Portland other than participating in it again while avoiding the travel. The “WIIFM” is the opportunity to create a local cohort of people who know and understand the methods and models. I look forward to the opportunity to create an ongoing learning group in which we can find more ways to help our clients and our organizations as they navigate complex times.

Some months ago I read a fascinating article from the British newspaper, The Guardian, forwarded to me by a colleague who knows my interest in the area of what is commonly called “gender intelligence”, or the relationship between brain chemistry and structure and male/female behaviors. Written by Madeleine Bunting, the article claims that virtually all of the scientific studies purporting to show that there are indeed, biological differences between men and women, are either misleading or so badly bungled that their results have no merit. She claims that the so-called breakthroughs in neuroscience, genetics, and evolutionary psychology suggesting the feminist consensus of the last 30 or so years that gender is entirely a social construct may be inaccurate, simply wrong or bad science.

Citing results from a number of well-respected researchers in the US and the UK, Bunting raises an interesting question, namely why the question of sex differences exerts such a powerful hold on us? Regardless of whether you believe sex differences are real or not, what makes raising the question occur with such frequency and such passion?

Elizabeth Spelke, Ph.D., a widely respected professor at Harvard, has studied the field of cognitive development for many years. Her research demonstrates that children as early as 10 months old categorize the world by gender. It is interesting that infants in her studies apparently do not show the same categorizations by race. Spelke notes that humans are “…predisposed to see the social landscape in terms of gender” and that we keep on looking for differences because that is one of the basic ways we order our experience of the world.

So does it add or detract from our experience of the world, our relationships, our ability to lead and manage others to think in terms of sex differences? When we do, are we simply perpetuating stereotypes or are we honoring diversity? What is your view on this topic?

“Our experience thus far has been that while self-organizing teams may enable the organization to operate from day to day without active management, a more integrated organization and more productive teams make the value-add of managers highly transparent and place a premium on specific leadership skills.” from Adam Light, Chris Vike and Diana Larsen. “Teamwork Required: Managing Agile Application Delivery in a Matrix Organization”, Cutter Agile Product & Project Management Executive Update, Vol. 12, No. 19. October 2011.

For a free download of the article pdf, register at the Cutter site. You can also order reprints from Cutter to use as a discussion case study for your own management teams as they navigate the transition to Agile.

December 12 & 13
8:30 am – 5:30 pm
Hotel Vintage Plaza
422 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205

Price:  $1750 per participant*
Group Rate:  Register 3 or more participants at $1550 per person

REGISTER

The workshop is limited to 18 participants, so make sure to reserve your spot soon!

Course Overview 
Managers have a unique role to fulfill in an Agile world. Whether leading a shift to Agile methods or guiding a newly Agile organization, effective managers join their current skills with strategic tools learned in this course to keep people and teams on track.
 
This course gives you the hands-on experience and builds the skill set you will require to thoroughly understand and utilize the real-world fundamentals of managing in an agile environment. The instructors bring their expertise in agile management, planning and development to help managers utilize their knowledge and skills to harness the power of an Agile organization.

Course Description

Workshop Leaders
Diana Larsen
Sharon Buckmaster

*The price includes participation in the 2-day workshop AND two (2) hours of individual one-on-one coaching with one of the instructors.