Speed. Change. Time LO10398

Mark L. Peal (mpeal@mms.org)
Wed, 09 Oct 1996 14:24:50 -0400

Replying to LO10368 --

-- previous msg --
From: Jeff Brooks <BrooksJeff@AOL.com>
Mark, I'd like to ask what your phrase, "containing vessel",
means. Psychotherapists use similar terms (a "holding
environment" comes to mind), and I'm wondering if you're
referring to the same kind of thing.
-- end quote --

Jeff, the similarity of "containing vessel" to psych concepts is
accidental on my part, but I'm paraphrasing Heifetz, who has psychiatry
credentials. I've simply noticed that as long as I keep quoting him, I
sound smarter than I am. He says that the world is full of "technical"
problems with technical solutions. When a snowstorm clogs the roads, we
call out the snowplows. In all but extreme cases, that solves it, and no
adapting or new learning needs to happen. When the usual responses don't
work, something needs to change in people's values, attitudes, or behavior
habits. It's often a challenge they'd rather not face. The leader's job is
to mobilize people to adapt, not eliminating distress, but by modulating
it so that people aren't overwhelmed by it ("with no heat, nothing
cooks"). It means allowing issues to ripen, and focusing on the ripening
ones as people learn to adapt. It means giving the work back to people at
a rate they can stand. In that sense, "containing vessel" and "holding
environment" work equally well for this layperson, but a psychotherapist
might see important differences.

-- prev msg --
In your view, how does one "gradually raise [someone
else's] capacity to do their own adapting"?
-- end quote --

This is where a leader earns her/his keep. I'm reminded of the slogan of
the Flying Karamozov Brothers, "Time is what keeps everything from
happening all at once." A leader needs to understand, really understand,
what people's issues are, what matters to them, what losses they fear.
Unbundle the issues (the Wheatley Dialog!) and focus attention on areas
where change will make a difference. Direct effort away from working
harder at old answers (the old adage "Insanity is doing the same thing
over and over and expecting different results"). Don't remove the threat,
but ask questions that get people thinking about how they might resolve
the issues differently. Watch carefully at how they're doing at restoring
their own equilibrium, and introduce the next challenge.

Mark Peal
Massachusetts Medical Society
Waltham, MA, USA
mpeal@mms.org
"We're all chunks in the same chowder."

-- 

"Mark L. Peal" <mpeal@mms.org>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>