Sara Huron

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Services
  • Contact

How Can We Innovate for All, Not Just for Some?

Belonging· Business Evolution· Complexity· Human Soul at Work· Resilience· Strategic Leadership· Systems Thinking

1 Apr 2020
Tweet
Share
Share
Email
Pocket
0 Shares
Photo by Kristopher Roller on Unsplash

The first time I visited India, everything was new to me. The colors, the energy, and especially the sounds. To this day, I admire anyone who dares to drive a car or a scooter in New Delhi, not just because they can navigate the complexities of Delhi traffic, but also because they seem to be able to interpret the secret language of car and scooter honking. It’s a language all its own.

At the time I visited India, globalization—in other words, offshoring of US work to developing nations—was just getting underway, and many changes and innovations were being introduced to the Indian culture. For example, whereas in the past it might have taken a family months or years to get a telephone landline, now in a matter of days, families could have cell phone access, negating the need for a landline at all. Some families who had historically lived intergenerationally were now separating themselves from their relatives and living as a nuclear family.

One of the things I noticed was how people worked and what their work actually was. I remember seeing a woman standing at the rear of a large wooden cart, parked under a tree on a residential street. The cart was piled high with colorful fabrics. Apparently it was clothing because she was ironing. She had a mobile ironing service. I saw two men riding a scooter, one driving and the other with a medium-sized refrigerator tied to his back. I have no idea if they were delivering the refrigerator to their own home, or if their job was to deliver appliances to customers, but the guy on the back of the scooter had a heavy load. The men’s combined ability to master the weight balance amidst the chaotic traffic was simply amazing.

One person in particular stood out to me. We were exiting an office building—a fairly new one—and there was a woman there, sweeping the travertine-tiled lobby with a grass broom. This wasn’t the first time I had seen this. A woman. A grass broom. A large, dusty lobby. It looked like tedious, never-ending, and somewhat ineffective work. Wasn’t there a better way to do this?

As we were leaving the building, I asked my host: “I’ve seen a lot of people using grass brooms to sweep these lobbies. I’m curious as to why they don’t use a floor polisher or similar machine to do that work. Wouldn’t it be easier and faster to do it that way?”

I’ll never forget his reaction. His head snapped back. He got a confused look on his face. I could tell that he was trying to be polite, but clearly he was shocked that I had not thought carefully about what my suggestion might mean.

“Yes,” he said slowly. “There are machines that could do that, but we would then be depriving that woman of her work and her dignity. That is something we cannot do.”

I thought back to the mobile ironing service. Back to the delivery service. And back to the woman sweeping the lobby.

My host’s response opened up my thinking to consider the downstream effects of even the most simple, basic innovation. So used to looking for ways to improve the functioning and efficiency of my own company, I was forced to think beyond it, beyond myself, beyond even my community. I began to consider what work is, and what it means to individuals, communities, and societies at large.

The coronavirus slowdown has only accentuated the value and the need for work—any work, not just meaningful work.

This grass-broom-in-a-lobby, work availability, and dignity problem is one that we, worldwide, will all be facing shortly, once we emerge from our coronavirus cocoons. Work is not ever going back to the way it was. And what does that mean for us?

I was on a call yesterday that celebrated the ingenuity of business leaders. Companies are inventing and being creative. People are getting used to remote work and finding new ways to get things done. It’s wonderful how we are all learning to adapt and innovate. It’s obvious that major systems—healthcare, education, government, business and financial infrastructure—are going to undergo massive change, all at once, as we learn what’s working and what’s not.

Alongside that, however, we are learning that there are roles and functions we can do without. We are working around folks, and in the process, discovering that perhaps we don’t need them after all. We’re doing more than just getting by. We’re seeing a different future. One not altogether hopeless.

There have been some innovations that have been on the fringes for some time. For example, remote learning. It’s been proposed, piloted, and in some places, implemented. What was once an exception or a rarity is now a necessity. What does that mean for the future of education? If we adopt more remote learning, we will have less need for physical school buildings. That implies fewer custodians, fewer school secretaries, fewer support staff. Same with telehealth. Increased use of telehealth could require fewer appointment schedulers, nursing staff, billing personnel. Our newfound fear of at-risk interaction could mean we’ll soon see only automated grocery checkout lines to minimize employee risk—and employer liability—with the next pandemic.

I know that some jobs will disappear altogether. The example that’s always given is that the days of horse and buggy are over. And the implication of that statement is, “Those horse-and-buggy drivers should have figured it out.”

Really? Do they bear all of the responsibility?

I agree, we need to be responsible for ourselves and try to find a way to provide for and protect our families. We need to be agile, individually and collectively. Our companies need to keep moving forward, to provide work for as many as possible, as soon as possible.

And yet. How are we going to go about doing that? What are the values that are going to guide us?

For we are indeed responsible for ourselves. And we are also responsible for one another. That is another lesson the coronavirus is showing us. Whether we know it or not, we carry with us the possibility of life or death for anyone we physically come in contact with. We are not just individuals. We are connected, nodes in a series of relational networks, and our influence radiates beyond that of which we are aware. In very real ways, we belong to one another.

We are in a state of evolution. It is happening right before our eyes. As David Sloan Wilson says in his book, This View of Life, “If we don’t become wise managers of evolutionary processes, then evolution will still take place but will lead to outcomes that are not aligned with our normative goals.”

What are our goals, people? Will we seek to get the economy back on track at any cost? Or will we be more conscious about it? What, exactly, are we working toward?

Innovators, think not only of the efficiencies you are creating but of the individuals you may be displacing. Bring your creative forces to bear, not just on matters of survival but on matters of sustainability. Now is the time for our most creative thinking. Now is the time to to think of the whole, not just the parts. Now is the time to think systemically.

How can we innovate for all, and not just for some? I don’t know. But I do know this: It is a worthy goal.

Tweet
Share
Share
Email
Pocket
0 Shares

Leave a Comment

Sara Huron coaches and consults with individuals—especially CEOs, business owners, executive directors, and other key leaders—who want to lead well, think more clearly, make better decisions, and improve their relationship with themselves and others. Contact…

Previous Post: « Asking for a Sign
Next Post: George Floyd »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

 

I’m Sara Huron—organizational design & effectiveness consultant and executive coach. I blog about things that intrigue me: organizational behavior, leadership, complexity, who we are and who we are becoming, and other topics. For more about me, go here.

PCC Credential Badge
CFBA Badge
CFWA Badge

Why Sara?

Sara helped me to understand why there were underlying issues in our organization and opportunities for improvement. We worked to understand how I fit into the structure and how I could have the greatest impact. I learned something new every time I met with Sara. She led me to understand how to find purpose in my company, in my team, and in myself.

Kevin Jackson
Senior Information Technology Director
Silfex, Inc.

Sara Huron
2020-01-14T21:04:14-05:00

Kevin Jackson
Senior Information Technology Director
Silfex, Inc.

Sara helped me to understand why there were underlying issues in our organization and opportunities for improvement. We worked to understand how I fit into the structure and how I could have the greatest impact. I learned something new every time I met with Sara. She led me to understand how to find purpose in my company, in my team, and in myself.
https://www.sarahuron.com/testimonials/63/

I’ve been meeting with Sara since around 2012. What’s been helpful is she asks questions that make you think, that you sit with, and if you answer on the surface level, she’ll ask another to hit the root. She helps guide but gives room for you to discover yourself.

She doesn’t lead; she offers direction, offers guidance, but allows you to discover your own path. She picks up on what you don’t say and helps you dig out ideas and lets them be your own.

After meeting with Sara, I’m left feeling encouraged and charged, ready to take action to take the next steps.

Andrew Fairie
Community Pastor
BLOC Ministries

Sara Huron
2020-01-14T21:05:19-05:00

Andrew Fairie
Community Pastor
BLOC Ministries

I’ve been meeting with Sara since around 2012. What’s been helpful is she asks questions that make you think, that you sit with, and if you answer on the surface level, she’ll ask another to hit the root. She helps guide but gives room for you to discover yourself. She doesn’t lead; she offers direction, offers guidance, but allows you to discover your own path. She picks up on what you don’t say and helps you dig out ideas and lets them be your own. After meeting with Sara, I’m left feeling encouraged and charged, ready to take action to take the next steps.
https://www.sarahuron.com/testimonials/64/

Sara entered our lives at the perfect time as our business was on the precipice of growth and development, and we were also going through personal challenge and unexpected change. Her listening ear and sound business advice continues to take us to the next level of industrial and philanthropic success while nurturing the opportunities for mentorship in our personal lives. Sara has a knowledge of best business practice that is applicable to all professions, trades and entrepreneurial ventures. We look forward to working with Sara as she helps take us to new levels of ministerial, financial, personal, and industrial triumph!

Erin Cox
President
Women's Off-Road Moto Group
womensoffroadmoto.com

Sara Huron
2020-01-23T12:12:20-05:00

Erin Cox
President
Women's Off-Road Moto Group
womensoffroadmoto.com

Sara entered our lives at the perfect time as our business was on the precipice of growth and development, and we were also going through personal challenge and unexpected change. Her listening ear and sound business advice continues to take us to the next level of industrial and philanthropic success while nurturing the opportunities for mentorship in our personal lives. Sara has a knowledge of best business practice that is applicable to all professions, trades and entrepreneurial ventures. We look forward to working with Sara as she helps take us to new levels of ministerial, financial, personal, and industrial triumph!
https://www.sarahuron.com/testimonials/294/
0
Sara Huron

Connect

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Subscribe

Recent Posts

  • The Strategic Wisdom of Attending to Family Dynamics
  • Take Care of the Business and the Business Will Take Care of the Family?
  • Falling in Love with Our Work Again
  • George Floyd
  • How Can We Innovate for All, Not Just for Some?

Categories

  • Belonging
  • Bowen Theory
  • Business Evolution
  • Closing Shop
  • Complexity
  • Differentiation of Self
  • Emotional Process
  • Family Business
  • Family Systems
  • Human Soul at Work
  • Leading in Uncertainty
  • Resilience
  • Spiritual Direction
  • Strategic Leadership
  • Succession Planning
  • Systems Thinking

Tags

#complexity anxiety belief belonging Bowen theory change facilitation closing shop commitment common good coronavirus David Sloan Wilson differentiation of self disruption ecotone leadership evolution family business family harmony fear fusion George Floyd innovation knowledge leadership leading in anxious times mentor offshoring Parker Palmer perspective profession resilience sba SBA disaster relief small business soul soulatwork systems thinking true self uncertainty vocation work

© 2019–2024 Sara Huron, all rights reserved.

Copyright © 2025 · Refined Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in