A Little Disruption

Posted by Ann Deaton Share Your Voice

I have been pondering this notion of movement lately, in particular how I move through the world. I used to appreciate how easily and harmoniously I moved through the world. I prided myself on not leaving an emotional wake in my leadership and in my personal relationships. Lately, though, I've been thinking a little disruption may be a positive thing. We all get into habits of moving in the same way day after day, ruts of habit that can be hard to notice, much less break out of. And that's okay. In fact, it is incredibly efficient to have habits that serve us well and that we can repeat day after day without conscious effort.

But habit is not always good, and it's sometimes desirable to make waves, to leave a wake that makes others stand up and take notice. So lately I've been experimenting with consciously assessing my own habits, .... and then disrupting them. Doing something different just for the sake of doing it different, and seeing what there is to be learned in the disruption.

Because much of my work is with groups and teams too, I've been doing that work differently as well. I've always been good at creating a supportive environment in which people feel safe taking risks and learning from one another. And now I'm upping the ante---disrupting our learning community by adding more challenge to the mix. Disruption of my habitual way of facilitating, all for the sake of seeing what more we might learn together if we take it up a notch. It's been both fun and illuminating to see that creating safety for a team comes naturally to me, and creating challenge requires more effort but also can lead to greater rewards for all of us.

A new book, The Power of Habit, suggests that change happens most powerfully in community. Belief in one's ability to change, to do something new and better, is easier with a community of support. Our work in Bounce is about creating such communities---sometimes a partnership of two, as in individual leadership coaching, and many times in a community of a dozen or two as we work with intact teams or cohort-based programs such as Leaders as Learners. The point is that all of us, just like me, can move more powerfully in this world when we are conscious of how we move. All of us can have more impact. And together, we can learn how to do that. A little disruption, a lot of impact. Together.

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Ann Deaton I am a leadership coach, and Managing Partner in Bounce. I love to coach and facilitate with individuals and systems experiencing significant change and growth. The clients I work with, regardless of their age or position, are talented and creative individuals willing to look with fresh eyes at their challenges and opportunities, and to take action based on their discoveries. As a result, they find that they are capable of accomplishing far greater things than they ever imagined. What do you want to accomplish today? Who do you want to be?