INNER WORK
When organizations stop seeing inner work as separate, the energy invested in dysfunctional coping mechanisms( e. g. sabotage, malicious compliance, triangulation) largely abates. People who feel valued and understood put their energy towards connecting with each other, leveraging their strengths, and advancing the mission of the organization. In order for organizations to build resilience, they have to build connections. As one leader succinctly put it, in order for organizations to survive this time they need to“ focus on connection rather than work” and let the work be a by-product of these relationships.
If unaddressed, the collective trauma of the health and racism pandemics we are navigating right now will continue to reverberate through organizations for generations. Institutions need to invest heavily in this paradigm shift to build institutional muscle around inner work / healing, designing systems and strategies that are individualized for the particular organization, just as inner work is personalized for the individual. When organizations invest in the ongoing practice of inner work, we create practitioners of it.
Another organization we have been working with during this pandemic has started short, daily inner work practices, woven connection / group processing into the fabric of their meetings, and started applying ritual at the beginning and end of the day that supports navigation through anxiety, ambiguity, and grief. This organization is in the early stages of adapting to the changing needs of employees and integrating a holistic approach where each person is welcomed, witnessed, and supported. Employees report feeling more valued and connected to each other, key elements in fostering organizational resilience.
In both of these cases, the exponential positive outcomes the organizations are experiencing are a result of the individuals within the organization rewiring their brain’ s synapses, creating new channels and thus new patterns. This neurological shift requires practice over time. Inner work is a discipline; when we engage in it regularly, like exercise builds muscle, we build capacity for it. We rewire the brain to react and respond differently to our environment, and as a result the entire organizational operating system gets upgraded.
Barriers to Inner Work
Don’ t turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place. That’ s where the light enters you.- Rumi
If we accept that inner work has everything to do with how we show up and what impact we have, why do individuals and organizations not make this a more explicit priority? Why have we not gained a level of mastery over this concept, both in our language and in our ability to accurately track and measure its success?
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CSEE Connections Fall 2020 Page 15