“Mindset: A mental attitude or inclination.” -Merriam Webster
What has caused civilizations throughout the ages to fundamentally transform on a large scale and in a lasting way?
Take, for example, the fundamental and radical societal shift that started in the 17th century. A shift that brought about the emergence of widespread democracy, commerce, equality of people, treaties, rapid advancement in medicine, an economic middle class, unprecedented wealth, a global explosion of music and the arts, and a “Bill of Rights”.
Did a large group of coaches go out and run training sessions across society on topics like “How to structure and think like a Democracy”, “Understanding the Democratic mindset” or “The 3 keys to achieving an explosion of the arts”?
There isn’t, of course, anything fundamentally wrong with those sorts of activities, but they weren’t responsible for such a shift.
Attempting to force mindset or behavioural change from the outside-in would have been fruitless. The mindsets and behaviours of the 17th century had been learned and reinforced through generations.
What was it, then, that made for such a radical shift?
Enter The Scientific Revolution
Prior to the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century there was a pervasive belief that authoritative knowledge and teaching passed down through the ages was sacrosanct. This made for a mental attitude – a mindset – of accepting what was passed down as truth. This then brought about the behaviour of relying blindly on the word of authority and not initiating change or actively discovering for oneself.
During the Scientific Revolution (and accelerating through the Enlightenment period) a fundamental shift in belief took place on a societal level. A belief emerged that we could actually discover and know reality for itself. This made for a mental attitude – a mindset – of not blindly accepting what was passed down as truth, but rather an inclination to discover, create and innovate. This then brought about the behaviour of large scale discovery, innovation and collaboration that brought about the amazing things mentioned above.
Beliefs Change the World
The big changes in the world have always been cast from big changes in how people think about their world.” -Michael Hamman, Evolvagility
The answer to the question of what has caused civilizations through the ages to fundamentally transform on a large scale and in a lasting way is beliefs, worldviews and assumptions about reality.
“This is the power of a new way of thinking: It generates entirely new horizons for what’s possible – whether at the level of an individual person’s life, at the level of an organization, or at the level of an entire civilization. Each new age is brought about by a new way of thinking, a new way of seeing things.” -Michael Hamman, Evolvagility
Beliefs determine how our mind is set and the way our mind is set determines how we behave. Behaviours are the tip of the iceberg, mindsets sit behind them (though still in our general awareness), and the majority of the iceberg (submerged, unseen and largely unexamined) is the layer of beliefs, assumptions and worldviews.
The key to lasting and widespread change in an individual, an organisation or a society is a shift in this layer.
The simple rendering below doesn’t do justice to the reality and complexity of it all, but communicates the general idea.
Bringing About True and Lasting Agility
“The inner game runs the outer game.” -Anderson & Adams, Mastering Leadership
True and lasting agility, individually or organisationally, necessitates a shift in the layer of beliefs and worldviews – a shift in consciousness. This cannot be forced, it must be cultivated. In order for it to be cultivated, conditions must exist for its emergence.
Our role as agile leaders is to create the environment, the conditions and the practices for inner agility to arise and to be catalysed in our teams and across our organisation.
For an excellent approach and framework for catalysing inner agility, I recommend reading Michael Hamman’s book Evolvagility.
Originally published on LinkedIn.