I’m not fond of either term: Personal Development or Organizational Development. Too many Latinate nominalizations put me into a trance. Both fields are tainted (self-imposed). Yet, when a knowledgeable executive asks a fair question, you answer.

Last week, we were discussing the possibility of me working with her executive coaching firm, and she wanted to know, how I reconcile my interest in OD with PD? She, like most people “in the know”, think change work with individuals and change work with organizations are different disciplines. At the time, I stumbled through my answer. The question stuck with me, however, and apparently it held some brain circuits hostage, for I woke up this morning with a better answer in my consciousness, wrapped in a neat bow of obviousness.

Isn’t the ability of the unconsciousness to supply answers to questions fabulous? As Milton Erickson points out, we don’t know what we already know. Here’s what I didn’t know that I already knew. The four guiding principles of Engaging Change^TM apply equally to personal change and cultural renewal.

1. Accept, without judgment, what is.
2. Have the integrity and courage to seek and follow the facts wherever they lead.
3. Be of service, leave a legacy.
4. Hold these principles dear, in all else be flexible.

Accept, without judgment, what is.

One of the greatest energy sinks and time wasters in the world is the inability to accept what is, without judgment. We lose our job; our number one supplier signs an exclusive deal with our largest competitor. She’s asking for a divorce; the top salesperson quit this morning. We complain, we moan, we cry, or we throw things, we curse, we threaten. Do you know why?

We are wired up to do these things to get help from others (or in the case of anger to scare away trouble). Humans are social animals with emotions and empathy in our genes. However, these behaviors are meant to illicit help from others when we are helpless, as in the case of little children who lose their parents, death of a spouse… In the given examples, even divorce doesn’t count as a hopeless, helpless situation. Nobody is going to rescue us. The sooner we let go, accept what is, skip over the blame game, then the sooner we can start on creating solutions for ourselves. Who knows, maybe this “tragedy”, has an upside! We might meet our soul mate or find a rainmaker. One has to leave the valley to reach the mountaintop.

Have the integrity and courage to seek and follow the facts wherever they lead.

As for #2, seeking and following facts is rare indeed. We all say that’s our approach, but it just isn’t so. That’s because most people don’t like feeling uncomfortable. When a fact contradicts our truth, we have many techniques for dismissing the fact, but few resources for embracing it. Yet, growth happens fastest when we give ourselves permission to feel confused.

Leonardo DaVinci said that only through experimentation can we really know the truth. One has to live in the world of facts, wonder about them, play with them, reconcile them, to truly know, to grow. In my opinion, DaVinci’s genius was not that he was a genius, but that he relentlessly pursued knowledge, manipulated and experimented until he mastered it. It’s easy to see how the pursuit of knowledge, the willingness to feel uncomfortable, and the gift of inevitable epiphanies lead to fulfilling lives and inventive business cultures.

Be of service, leave a legacy.

As for #3, be of service or be a slave to self interest. The pursuit of profit, for the sake of profit, has the same ending as Aesop’s fable, “The Goose that Lays the Golden Eggs”: a dead goose and no more eggs. Business is about creating more and more value for others; the profits will follow. Marriages and friendships are about connection and caring. Sure, if a relationship is one sided, healthy people let them wither. And what’s also true is that a life or an organization that doesn’t leave the world better off isn’t worth living or working.

1. Hold these principles dear, in all else be flexible.

2. Finally #4, be flexible. Knowledge is doubling every four or three years. For the first time in history, every educated person in the world is connected to every other educated person. There will be few enduring truths. Innovation is now like waves crashing on a beach. The wave that creates our business success today will soon be followed by another and another….

On a personal level, everyone around us will be growing and changing faster than before. Societies will blend, values will change. If our relationships are not working, we must accept what is and change something. Change our environment, knowledge, behavior, habits, attitudes, what we consider important, or our beliefs. If we try to stop change in ourselves or others, our primary relationship will be with loneliness.

Accept what is, courageously follow the facts, be of service and adapt. These are the mindsets of happy people who create results and maintain lasting relationships. These are the fundamentals of innovative and growing businesses that people love to work at. In the new world, personal development bubbles from the same spring as organizational development.

There is no significant difference. Only organic (naturally adaptive) people can create organic organizations, ….obviously.

Keywords: Organizational Development, Organizational Change, business change, corporate culture, change leadership, engaging change

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Michael Cushman, The Engaging Guru, wants you to master enrolling others in your truth, get the goodies of life, and change the world.  www.engagingchange.com