ACADEMIC: Confronting the Deep Change or Slow Death Dilemma

*disclaimer*
This is about an article I had to read for class. It's late, I've been at work all day, I am sure this entry lacks the coherence needed to fully establish my point, but as long as I draft it, I can perfect it in a paper later on down the line. If you're still reading after I said all that, bless your heart!"

Every once in awhile these management classes bless me with a little jewel of wisdom that allow me to appreciate ever so humbly the opportunities this education is going to afford me, and more importantly to appreciate my training to be a leader in my community.

For my Organization and Management class we were assigned selected chapters from Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within by Robert E. Quinn. When the professor first mentioned the title of the book, I assumed that this would be another one of "those" readings. The readings that are full of anecdotal stories of positive change in organizations and North America and Europe that I won't be able to relate to unless I become a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. However, I was quite surprised when this chapter breathed pure life into my soul and inspired me to write (yet again this week).

The title of the chapter is Confronting the Deep Change or Slow Death Dilemma. As many may have ascertained (if you read this blog at all), I internalize just about everything that I watch and read. Every movie I've seen either parallels my spiritual, philosophical, or emotional viewpoints. So of course, if I begin to the same with a textbook either I am really making an active attempt to get something qualitative out of this degree or my mind is just so fragmented and ill-focused that there are somethings I just can't help but think about.

Whatever. I'll think about what I wanna think about when I wanna think about it. *kanye mug face*

Alhough the author is discussing organizational change as it relates to the individual and the workplace, I instantly began to draw correlations between the author's words to the struggle and journey of the black community in the United States. Seems like a bit of stretch I'm sure, but bear with me and see if you get where I'm going with this.

In the previous chapter the author determines that there comes a time in all life cycles in which change needs to occur. Incremental changes are reactionary responses to rational analysis and careful planning. They are often piecemeal and reversible if necessary. Deep changes are those that change structure, philosophy, thought, and outlook. They are not reversible. Deep change does not come from careful planning; it involves taking risks.
Quinn says, "Excellence, however, never lies within the boxes drawn in the past.... To bring deep change, people have to "suffer" the risks (take a stand against the status quo). And to bring about deep change in other, people have to reinvent (redefine) themselves."

Y'all beginning to feel me?

Personal relationships, internal struggles, Fortune 500 companies, community nonprofits all face point in which change is inevitable. The argument of the author is that there are really only two responses when one is confronted with change:
1. Deep Change
OR
2. Slow Death

The author discovers many times that slow death is the chosen option by many individuals (in the community). People recognize that a deep change is needed in the community and they opt to do nothing. People seek comfort in discover short-term personal survival over the understanding and ACCEPTANCE of long-term collective responsibility. (Now, I know y'all understand what I was talking about. Collective responsibility? UJIMA!!!)

The author then shares the boiled-frog experiment a methaphor for complacency v. action-oriented reactions to change. (If a frog is taken from cold water to boiling water it immediately jumps out, if its placed in a container of water that is gradually heated, eventually the water boils and the frog is dead.) <<<---- that's what slow death is. Complacency in the status quo. Acceptance of fate, claiming yourself as a victim with no alternative, incapable of seeing outside of the current contraints, unable to assume the responsibility of the collective... self-prescribed suicide.

The chapter describes in detail symptoms of slow death and explores the hypocrisy in those who instead of remaining complacent, actively disengage entirely by creating an exit strategy for themselves. The author names a number of reasons why the exit strategy is just another method for the same slow death.

So my takeaway from this weeks reading assignment:
To evolve as a people we cannot let self-interest triumph collective responsibility! No matter what has been done before! A call to action for deep change needs to be embedded in all aspects of community relation so we can forever eradicate the disease of slow death.

I'm sure my __________________ professor isn't expecting me to share something like this in class.

I doubt I will.