A Mix of Emotions
As the 2023 bids us goodbye, it's natural to look back on our OD practice and our relationships over the past 12 months. This year spawned many challenges that tested our resilience. From the spread of misinformation eroding public trust, to ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crises all over. Technology continues to march on and re-architects how we and our organization work. Our Mom Earth continues to suffer the damaging effects of climate change and natural disasters. We are hitting 8 billion soon. Yet, too many still face exploitation and inequality, while rates of poor mental and physical health remain high for people worldwide. With all this hardship, it can be difficult to find contentment and motivation, let alone joy.
Yet despite the negatives, there are always glimmers of light ahead in the way we relate and practice our profession. As the new year dawns, we have an opportunity to shift our mindset and approach our profession. (and life in general) from a place of curiosity, openness and compassion.
Learning
Perhaps we can reflect on the past year and acknowledge it for the learning experience it gave us. How did we grow? What insights did we gain about ourselves and others? Even in darkness, there are lessons.
We can reconsider our relationships under a new and kinder lens. Are there friendships to rekindle, familial bonds to nurture, or differences to reconcile with an open heart? A little more empathy could work wonders.
Best is Yet to Come
In 2024, let's spark our sense of adventure. Try new hobbies, travel new places, seek out new perspectives. Curiosity expands our horizons. We could all benefit from cultivating more childlike wonder about this strange, amazing world we live in.
Most importantly, let's endeavor to have more fun. Seek out humor, savor life's simple pleasures, spend time nurturing your soul. Laughter connects us. Joy is our birthright.
The coming year may bring more twists and turns, but we get to choose what attitude we greet them with. We can be stressed, angry and afraid - or open, resilient and kind.
2023 reminded us not to take stability for granted. But it also highlighted our shared humanity. We're all in this together. And there is always hope to be found if we look for the light.
Cheers!
Here's to 2024 being a year of exploration, connection and joy for us all. The future remains unwritten. Let's fill the blank pages with more moments that make life meaningful. Our new adventure awaits.
Notes:
Lets start the year with a guest OD practitioner from Finland, Lauri Paloheimo. He presents the concept of meta-systemic coaching, a framework for empowering organizations to thrive amid exponential growth and complexity. Inspired by organization philosopher, Gilles Deleuze's ideas on transcending limits he advocates embracing new ways of collaborative thinking and action.
By analyzing cultural narratives and values, Lauri explains how coaching can unlock an organization's active “liberatory” power to adapt and co-create new values. He introduced new terms based on French works on deconstructing power dynamics in organizations and demystified “top-downs,” common sense, and other archaic OD paradigms.
He proposes AI-like coaching prototype, "Panditron" to foster self-awareness, empowerment, and enhanced intelligence within groups. His talk explores how reframing identity and power can help organizations, technology, and people evolve together with greater clarity and purpose in the 21st century.
Meta systemic Coaching: The Future of Organizational Development w/ Lauri Paloheimo
See: Linstead, S., & Thanem, T. (2007). Multiplicity, Virtuality and Organization: The Contribution of Gilles Deleuze. Organization Studies, 28(10), 1483-1501, Sage Journal, https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840607075675