All biological systems are results-driven. They are either moving towards something or away from it. There is no standing still. Many organisations (and individuals) have a sense of inertia. However, I believe this is an illusion. If you are not moving forward when your competitors are, you are losing ground.

A fascinating area of discovery is that human's run their lives based upon mental models of their future. There is too much information bombarding us at any one moment in time for us to be consciously aware of. Reality is far richer than our conscious appreciation of it. In order to survive, we must choose which aspects of 'reality' we are going to pay attention to. What is this choice based upon? It is based upon the way we have optimised our biological search engines. We scan our senses for information that we have come to believe is relevant, significant or important. Everything else we actively filter out .

This is a natural process. Whatever you pay attention to becomes a significant 'preset'. The more attention you pay to it, the higher its rating becomes in your bio-search engine. A fun way to demonstrate this is to think about

•  A number below ten

•  A colour

•  A flower

•  An item of furniture.

In the western world, the statistically dominant cultural first choices are 7, Red, Rose, Chair. This would appear to be a simple matter of programming. When we are learning to name items and colours, red, rose and chair are the ones we are most often exposed to. The brain easily understands significance through repetition. So, why '7'. One possible answer is that we attach special significance to seven; seven days of the week, seven colours of the rainbow.

So, what is the relevance for building a naturally successful living organisation? Simple - what you pay attention to expands and moves up the search engine ratings. The more 'hits' it gets, the easier it is to hit it again. This is why living organisations have a clear vision of what they are moving toward. We need targets to hit.

Living Organisations are preset for success. The leading thinkers paint a compelling picture of the future of the company. If sufficient people in the organisation buy into the vision (and load that mental map in their own minds) we reach a critical mass movement towards realisation of the vision.

But Living Organisations go one step further. They accept the fact that not everything is under the control of the organisation. Their response is to build multiple maps of the future so that many opportunities can be spotted and acted upon. If you would like to research this important biological phenomenon further, may I direct you to the work of David Ingvar from the University of Lund, Sweden. David (who has now passed on) coined the phrase 'memories of the future' to describe our scenario-making habits. When we are awake, and when we are asleep, we are continuously exploring what might happen in the future. These ideas, even though they are future-orientated, have to be stored in memory. Memory is something more closely associated with the past... so David's wonderful phrase 'memories of the future' helps us adjust to a new paradigm. These memories become our internal book of maps by which we navigate our way through our complex universe.

Living Organisations also have a mature attitude toward change. They realise that movement can only happen when there is something to push against. In this sense they see change within the context of stability. Yes, we seek to move forward, but from a stable foundation. Some organisations a so often on the move that they run out of energy. I think specifically of organisations who change just because their business model doesn't seem to be working. They think a marketing make-over will make a difference, but this is marketing that is skin deep. True change is moving towards something very specific - never just a vague hope.

What about change at the micro-level? One of the great concerns in Learning & Development is the fact that people often move on after we've invested a fortune on their development. Living Organisations can preclude this to a large extent by making sure staff have new opportunities within the organisation. The attitude of 'if it aint broke, don't fix it' doesn't work well with human development. Just because someone is excellent at their job doesn't mean they should maintain that position for their career. I am only suggesting a subtle shift here since so many organisations are excellent at talent spotting and progressing talent through the ranks. I am suggesting that a policy of moving all staff periodically may lead to the long term vitality of the business...

Summary

A Living Organisation will display appropriate movement towards positive outcomes. This movement will also be reflected in periodic changes of responsibility and tasks for every member of staff so that they stay stimulated and avoid stagnation.