In a mentoring session this week, my mentee’s conversation reminded me of a favourite device in coaching leaders around change, the pendulum. In one of the earliest posts on this blog (from 2017), I wrote “Pendulum Leadership” in which I noted:
Imagine a pendulum that swings to the far end of its range. Now imagine that is something in yourself you wish to “correct”.
When you let go of a pendulum, does it swing and then suddenly stop in perfect alignment in the centre? No, it gains momentum and swings across to the other side, “over-correcting” if you will. The pendulum will then swing back and forth, gradually finding centre.
The same applies to human behaviour. Whether for an individual, team, business, or even society at large, we can consider the pendulum as a device for considering behaviour.
We are all seeking to “find centre” at all levels, yet it is only very rarely that it happens without the swings of the pendulum occurring.
Now, let’s take that into the role of a leader. Whatever business or organisation you lead, have you seen where you’ve just got everything into alignment, you’ve found the centre…. only to then have something happen through internal or external factors that knock things off centre, swinging the pendulum off to one side or other? Of course!
The key point of the pendulum as a device for considering leadership is that it does not return to centre, to alignment, but instead will always overshoot the centre, it will always overcorrect.
As a leader, a key role for you is to find alignment, so once you are aware of the propensity for people to overcorrect for change just as a pendulum does, you can work with this, plan for it, manage it, and influence it.
ChatGPT and missing the point
Two ChatGPT items today.
First, yesterday’s blog post “The Meaning of This is Water for Leaders”… was written for me by ChatGPT. I told readers: “A prize to the first person to recognise the specific change in the style I’ve adopted in this piece of writing”, but, gulp, nobody noticed.
However, with all the buzz around ChatGPT, there remains hope for human thinking yet. As I continue to play with ChatGPT, prior to writing this blog, I asked it to: “Write a short blog post on the idea of a pendulum for a metaphor for leading change”. As you can see from the ChatGPT response, the AI totally missed the point of understanding that a pendulum will overcorrect. There is hope for human writers yet! :
When it comes to leading change, it can often feel like a daunting task. Change can be challenging, uncomfortable, and even painful at times. However, the idea of a pendulum provides an excellent metaphor for understanding the process of leading change.
A pendulum is a weight suspended from a fixed point that swings back and forth under the influence of gravity. As the weight swings to one side, it gains momentum and energy. When it reaches the highest point on that side, it stops for a brief moment before gravity pulls it back down, and it gains momentum and energy again as it swings to the other side.
Similarly, when leading change, it’s important to recognize that change doesn’t happen overnight. Instead, it takes time, patience, and perseverance. The pendulum metaphor reminds us that change is a process, and we need to keep pushing forward, even when we face obstacles or setbacks.
Furthermore, just like a pendulum gains momentum and energy with each swing, change can also gain momentum and energy as it progresses. The more progress we make, the easier it becomes to continue making progress.
However, it’s also important to recognize that change can’t happen all at once. Just as the pendulum briefly stops at the highest point on each side before swinging back, we must recognize that change requires moments of reflection and reevaluation. We must take time to celebrate our progress, acknowledge what’s working, and assess what we need to do differently to continue moving forward.
In conclusion, the metaphor of a pendulum provides a valuable reminder that leading change is a process that requires patience, perseverance, and the willingness to reflect and adapt along the way. By keeping this in mind, we can become more effective leaders and create meaningful and lasting change in our organizations and communities.