A System of Profound Privilege

I read this LinkedIn post by Bob Emiliani. He began the post with this—

A few things that W. Edwards Deming did not realize or did not understand about top business leaders:

𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞-𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝.

And ended the post this way—

Deming's progressive management reform (the System of Profound Knowledge) is offensive to most top business leaders because they prefer the familiar to the unknown. Therefore, while Deming's work is sound from the perspective of a desired future state, it almost wholly ignores the reality of top business leaders’ dispositions and sentiments, as well as the status, rights, privileges, and protections that they seek to preserve (i.e., the System of Profound Privilege -- the current state of leadership).

My immediate Aha

My first thought was to replace Deming’s work with Agile Ways of Working. In doing so, the message resonated even more profoundly with me. That is, we in the agile community have been trying to—

• Mentor

• Teach

• Transform

• Change

• Evolve

Organizational leaders have been toward Agile ways of working for over twenty years. But after literally decades, incredible cost, and countless hours of effort, the sad fact is that very few leaders have emerged with a new agile leadership mindset.

In my experience, fewer than 10 percent of leaders have moved in this direction, and most of them did so without the help of my Agile Coaching. That is, they were essentially already there when I arrived.

When I read Bob’s post, the pieces finally fell into place for me. I reacted based on the premise of meeting your clients where they are, and I realized that I had been doing it all wrong.

Instead of trying to change most leaders, I needed to first meet them where they were FULLY. By embracing their perspective, immersing in it, appreciating it, and understanding it. That is—

Within their System of Profound Privilege

I further realized that I needed to change by joining their system.

Wrapping Up

Well, perhaps not 100% join it, but become more fully aware of leaders' perspectives around their profound privileges and lack of desire for change. That is—they are essentially happy where they are. Only by fully embracing this reality can I meet them where they are.

Bob has written a book about this idea that I plan on reading. You can read more about it here.

I can’t tell you how powerful this epiphany was for me. It expanded my understanding of today’s leaders, what they say they want, and what they’re willing to compromise to gain it. It helped me better understand how my role as an Agile Coach needs to align and integrate with leaders. And that I need to first operate in their space if I have any chance of helping them discover the need for change and guide them within that change.

The realization also saddens me because I wish more leaders could willingly join those few who are genuinely open to and willing to change. But wishing doesn’t make it so.

Stay agile, my friends,

Bob.

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