For leaders to transform their organizations, they must first clearly signal that they desire it, that they want it, and act accordingly.

Because how can we imagine that emergence will not take the form of our desires¹?

Three questions for you.

Do you desire it?

Are you signaling what you desire?

How?

Signal? What signal?

The signal is a form in action.

The signal indicates that it’s possible. The signal indicates that we’re trying, that you’re trying. The signal shows that we desire it, that you desire it. Others feel it, see it, touch it, the signal is clear. Without this clarity of signal from leaders, the phases of mutation, of change, which necessarily transit through a chaotic phase, risk getting bogged down.

For example, the signal demonstrates that this organization really wants to change, it signals this by organizing transformation cycles, that it tries to implement the commitments defined in those moments, that the responses provided are truly in line with this desire, this direction. People who fail or make mistakes are not blamed, but we seek to understand why it failed in order to try again with better chances. The signal that all decision-makers, even if they express themselves differently, propose the same direction, think about the same place, have the same desire.

This signal clearly visible to all that says it’s possible, that we desire it.

And what about substance then? Substance will come. If the signal truly witnesses this will. If this will to change is clearly signaled, shared, the rest will follow. Emergence, collective intelligence, will be at work. Sometimes everything is put in place for change: all the rituals, all the tools, all the ways of doing things. But I’ve observed that often real change comes from elsewhere, from an idea in the corner of a conversation, in an unexpected place, in a non-crucial moment, not prepared for. It was able to be there because everything else is present. Because everything else signals that we’re in motion. This tipping point moment can flourish because everything around it works to show that we want to support this change, that it is desired.

If we believe in emergence as I do, we attach more importance to the signal than to the way of doing things, and we know that substance will come.

Again. These questions are important to ask yourself.

Do you desire it?

Are you signaling what you desire?

How?