Finding a Way Forward

Of course, I have been cycling through Adaptive Action over and over this week. It is what keeps me going. What is this pattern that is emerging at this moment? So what does it mean for each of us and all of us? Now what can I (and we) do to shift the patterns away from the abyss we imagine and toward greater health, justice, equity, and peace?

I have repeated the Adaptive Action cycle of meaning making hundreds of times since Tuesday, trying to find a next wise action that is both true and useful. Some of the options are feasible, but not very powerful. Others are powerful, but unrealistic. I will continue Adaptive Action because it is the only responsible way to keep moving forward through the current chaos and the chaos to come.

Adaptive Action, Inquiry, and Pattern Logic are the foundations of HSD, but we have many other models and methods that support wise action in uncertain times. One that I have found useful this week is Questions in Uncertainty. I will share a cycle of reflection based on these questions with you, and invite you into one of your own. 

Question 1: What are the three most important things about the present?

This question draws my attention to what is, and keeps me from getting distracted by what was or what might be.

• Donald Trump will be president of the United States of America.
• Differences and identity politics dominate our discourse and disrupt connections among individuals and groups.
• Public rhetoric and action focus on individual interests, rather than the common interests or the greater good.

Question 2: What do I want to be same or different in future?

This question calls on my judgment, memory, and imagination to challenge what exists.

I want people to stand in inquiry and empathy to balance benefits for themselves with benefits for others.

I want people to make decisions with full awareness of the whole, the part, and the greater whole.

I want to see, understand, and influence the patterns of power that have us stuck, so that we can bring the greatest benefit to the greatest number.

Question 3: What is for sure, and what are your questions?

This question draws me into inquiry, not only to question but also to find whatever certainty there is in the middle of the mess.

I know that:

• Someone is benefitting from the patterns of strife in our community.
• The US Constitution includes safeguards intended to limit the power of individuals and groups.
• Approximately half of those voting in the recent election see the world quite differently than I do.
• Fear and dread are my strongest emotions when I imagine our collective the future.
• Nothing is intractable.

I want to know:

• Who is benefitting unfairly from the current situation, and how can we discover their interests and distinguish between those interests and others’.
• How will those safeguards ensure the future of American democracy, given our current situation?
• Why did people vote as they did? What are the individual stories that led individuals to make their choices? What will meet their needs?
• What can I do to protect the ideas, people, and things that are most precious to me?
• How can I share the HSD theory and practice to help people, communities, and institutions find insight, health, and safety in the uncertainty to come?

Question 4: What contradictions do I see?

Contradictions are important in chaos because they hold the energy for potential change. Find the contradictions, and I might find a door to the future.

On one hand, Americans are the most fortunate people on earth. On the other hand, many of our citizens feel oppressed and misused.

On one hand, government is the only thing that protects citizens from the predatory acts of private, commercial interests. On the other hand, we have chosen an extreme caricature of those interests to lead our government.

On the one hand, I believe deeply in the voice of the people and the value of democracy. On the other hand, the rights of democracy must be balanced with responsibility for the common good, critical thought, and civil discourse. 

Question 5: What has surprised me recently?

Surprise is a precious commodity in complex systems. They give me hints about what the future might hold.

I am surprised at the outcome of the election.

I am surprised that people so quickly normalized Trump and his behavior. Before the results were in, pundits and people on the street were justifying his behavior and beginning to court his favor.

I am surprised that children in homes around the country are afraid to go to school.

Question 6: What is one thing I can do to make a difference?

This question moves me into action, so I influence what is to create what will be.

I will come together with:

• My own feelings of disappointment and the emerging vision of a nation in crisis.
• People across the political spectrum to understand the complex patterns that drive the choices that set conditions for this disintegration.
• Individuals and groups who hold power to make a difference, so I can share the power of human systems dynamics in support of their work.

There is no question that every person on earth will be touched in some way by our collective decision last week. It would be easy to admire the emerging patterns from the point of view of my identity group and succumb to anger and helplessness. It will be much more difficult to see, understand, and influence patterns as they emerge in the coming months for me, my family and neighborhood, the US, and our international communities. Only Adaptive Action will help us realize that even this political turmoil is not intractable.

Glenda H. Eoyang
Executive Director
Human Systems Dynamics Institute
geoyang@hsdinstitute.org