
Sarah has been a friend and collaborator for a while, and it was a pleasure to be able to actually record a chat with her for others to hear! While I am sure she has mentioned it before, I hadn't quite considered specifically how self-awareness in leaders is such a block to organisational change. Also super grateful to Jennifer Susanto for the summary of the conversation below!
Beyond Binaries: Shifting mental models for organisational change
In this interview, Baruk Jacob sits down with Sarah Clearwater, founder of Reframr and the CX Collective to discuss her experiences in approaching and generating organisational change.
Growing up amongst the uproars of 90s Berlin, Sarah Clearwater is no stranger to intersectionality. Originally trained in intranational public policy, Sarah thrives in working in the “in between.” She feels comfortable amongst the intersection of the extremes and has made it her purpose and career to negotiate better ways for people and organisations to learn, work and live. After working in local government for the EU in the UK, Sarah migrated to New Zealand where she took up many roles from public to private to her personal ventures. In 2017 she founded @Reframr, a purpose-led design consultancy committed to helping organisations scale their impact and growth through human-centred design. She also founded @CX Collective, which facilitates events and communities to build connection, courage, and capacity for people in Aotearoa's social impact space.
What is Reframr trying to shift in the world?
Having moved countries, careers and lifestyles multiple times, there has been one constant in Sarah’s journey: to reframe how we think and move beyond binaries. Her mission is to create space for possibility in a more nuanced way of, “being and seeing to emerge.” Instead of approaching an issue with only two options (binaries), Sarah seeks to explore the spectrum in between. This involves asking questions like “how might we reimagine the world of organisations in our society?” and “what does it mean for them to show up and make decisions in a different way?” Sarah’s role is to question the status quo of systems, challenging what organisations perceive to be possible, viable and desirable.
What is the journey of moving to Aotearoa like?
Migrating to a foreign country is a challenging change for anyone. For Sarah, she found the most confronting yet supporting insight from moving to Aotearoa was realising that, “we are who we are because of where we have come from.” Drawing on Te Ao Māori belief of, “ka mua, ka muri” or “walking backwards into the future,” she was forced to reflect on how her journey was defining her identity and how her experiences affected the lenses she used to perceive the world.
This realisation forced her to confront her story not only to herself, but also with others. She became more intentional about sharing her story, and although it was uncomfortable she found it brought great clarity to understanding who she was and therefore, who she could become.
What’s getting in the way of shifting organisational change?
Today, most organisations follow a certain organisational hierarchy with the belief that you have to work your way to the top, with the people at the top considered “the leaders.” This organisational culture demands alignment to advance your position, enforcing people to follow a certain status quo. Sarah believes that this rigid structure makes it difficult for leaders at the top to step out of the narrative without jeopardising their own role. “This leads to leaders who are embodying the status quo while screaming for alternative futures and pathways.” After working with many organisations to break this status quo, Sarah observed that the key attitude preventing good leadership were leaders who lacked self-awareness.
In Sarah’s experience, self-awareness emerges when you sit with everything that is uncomfortable in yourself. By sitting with the sound of silence you begin to recognise how certain experiences trigger certain responses in ourselves. Although this experience can be confronting, Sarah believes this inner-reflection helps us positively shift the way we relate and interact with others.
However, the idea of, “rest and reflection,” does not align with today’s organisations’ or society’s expectations. Instead, our systems are built to praise people for working hard and fast and shame people who do otherwise. Sarah says that the guilt associated with, “not doing anything,” wrongly shames people into feeling that they are not progressing, when in reality, rest and reflection is just as (if not more) important as the diligent work and outputs we create. She emphasises that shifting our mental model of what makes a productive day or life, requires stepping away from the work hustle and into routines of self-awareness and reflection.
How do mental models affect organisational structures and cultures?
Today’s ‘busy work culture’ stems from mental models enforced by the expectation of our society. Our mental models heavily influence our decisions and naturally inform how we relate to one another. For example, if someone believes that they are more senior than someone else, then the way that they enter that relationship can be vastly different than if they are entering a relationship as co-workers or collaborators. While Sarah believes that current work-related mental models are the barrier to creating good organisational change, she also acknowledges that mental models are difficult to change saying, “what is easier to shift is seeing relationships and then deciding to step into those differently… and that’s the access point for change.”
For example, Sarah is often approached by organisations saying that they need a certain outcome by a certain deadline. Instead of jumping into finding solutions, Sarah encourages organisations to work backwards and focus on what’s happening in the present. This involves mapping out the current experiences, relationships and activities happening and how they interact and relate with each other. Mapping out these systems moves the transactional mental model of, “I give this so that I can take that,” and shifts people’s thinking into questioning how people can work together to create a community of practice that supports and nurtures each other’s success. By reimagining these mental models, Sarah states that we are capable of changing the corporate narrative, “shifting the position of the protagonist to the enabler.” She highlights that once people understand how they can actively help each other succeed, then they can start planning the steps they need to create a better future.
How can people help shift organisational change?
Organisations are systems made of people and therefore creating systematic shifts relies on changing the way people communicate and collaborate. To create this movement, Sarah encourages people to, “lean into self awareness, rest and reflect as much as you can.” She shares that engaging with communities who offer you energy and learning will reciprocally inspire the way we work and live.
If you are keen on joining a network of like-minded people, check out the @CX Collective! For more info on how you or your organisation can move beyond the binaries, get in touch with Sarah Clearwater at https://www.sarahclearwater.com/
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