9. Serenity

At first sight serenity appears to be the antitheses of busy-ness. With all the value creation, productivity and active verbs circumscribing success, the calm certainty of serenity seems like an exotic luxury. Business does not feel comfortable with the concept of calm radiance, the idea that activity can hide in inactivity, and potentially be far more profound.

Serenity in the individual is far easier to see and understand than serenity in organisations. We can imagine the quiet meditative mind of the samurai certain CEO. Never rasing her voice, always in masterful control of the facts and a clear vision of the organisation's future, almost as clear as the cutting analysis in their sparkling eyes. But what image do we have for serenity in motion, in the flux and flow of systems, budgets and departments? Perhaps it becomes easier when we think of the root of serenity as being clarity and radiance.

I was intrigued by a recent article that explained how a focus on designing for noise reduction created all kinds of innovations. Noise, at its core, is created by the friction of molecules rubbing against each other. This is released as heat and noise. If the design were integral, without odd bumps and grinds that sap energy through attrition, an elegant and far more focused solution emerges. Most importantly, by treating noise as a sign of wasted energy (a sign of friction or interference) you improve the overall design. Instead of just putting heavy silencers around the noise 'problem' engineers aim to eliminate the source of the noise.

The friction and tension that builds up between purpose and practice, when they are not aligned, is like a rubber band stretched between two diverging points; it will stretch and twang. Most often expressed as political conflict, a negative culture or stressed and demotivated employees who adopt compensatory behaviors in order to try and  release the tension.
Serenity in an organisation would be the same as a noise free mechanical system. By having everybody aligned, we remove the obstacles and hurdles that get in the way of clarity. There is a clear line of sight between the purpose and the practice of an organization. The symptomatic friction from mis-alignment and barbed unresolved edges give way to a sense of calm and clarity. Dynamic serenity then comes from integral alignment, around purpose, around vision, without the need for heavily engineered interventions that simply mask or obscure the core disposition.

How could you go about designing a static free culture, aligned simply around clarity and confident radiance? What are you doing to go beyond masking the friction symptoms to mis-alignment towards creating a more integral organizational design?