The New Agility For Impact

It is irrelevant what you think is happening in the world. It is highly relevant what you do to create impact in your local community.

A hundred years from now historians will speak of this moment we are in as the Trump Moment. Everything you and I perceive taking place right now is dependent on two things. One is the source of the media that we consume. Two is where we live. In other words our lives going forward are constrained by assess to information and context.

I’ll tell who I am by those two categories.

I am a non-partisan, non-political observer of leaders and organizations across the spectrum from global institutions to local mom-and-pop businesses. I am committed to being as objective and non-judgmental as possible because I believe that we are all the same in terms of how we address the situations that we encounter. We like to be in control and when we are in control we are free to change. When we feel constrained or fearful about the circumstances of our lives and the world, we are less likely to make decisions that will cause us to change. As a result, the greater risk is not changing when change is advisable.

I receive my information like you do from social media sources and from talking to people. My spectrum of interest is quite possibly far wider than yours because I am not interested in what I already know, but what I do not. People who are different from me, who have studied different fields of knowledge, and do different things than I have are more interesting to me than people like me. This is why I do The Eddy Network Podcast. As a broad spectrum of people, my over 200 episodes have presented, I feel that it is a very limited spectrum. I am constantly looking for someone who will introduce me to worlds that are new to me.

I tell you this because I want you to understand that your experience in life is not mine. I have lived in communities that were very conservative and very liberal. I have many friends who love Donald Trump and many who hate him with a passion. I am neither of them. I watch and observe what is happening.

What I Saw At The Turn of the Century

Twenty-five years ago, I unveiled my leadership model, the Circle of Impact.

At that point in time I saw the end of the institutional structure that had been dominant in the world over the previous century. Specifically, what I saw was the interaction between the three dimensions of leadership - Ideas, Relationships, and Structure - was broken. The three should be mutual, not necessarily equal, but have a mutual impact on people and organizations.

I saw the devaluing of Ideas and the lack of respect and trust in Relationships. Everything served the Structure of the institution. As a result, those persons who were most adept at working the Structure rose to the top of the organization. I am not saying every CEO or General Manager was corrupt and power-hungry. I realized that the systems of organization rewarded those who sought positions where control gained them prestige and power.

I saw back then that when power becomes concentrated in the hands of the few, the Structure begins to fail. It would be easy to blame bad character and greed as the cause. However, I believe there is a more fundamental reason why organizations fail. It is the simple reason of not understanding how to maximize the potential of employees.

I talk with people in the lower echelons of organizations all the time. Their background may be lower-middle class or blue collar. They are not stupid people. In some ways, they are less gullible to the power of suggestion than the upper class and wealthy elites. They understand that every decision they make has a consequence that affects them and their families. Elites are more immune to financial disruption than lower classes.

I have known people trapped in cycles of addiction who are often suffering because they want to flee from the consequences of their actions. They want to hide or find a way to relieve themselves of the pressure of always having to make that monthly payment. Many homeless people that I’ve know choose this lifestyle. They consider themselves free.

When I talk with this wide spectrum of people, I am not interested in telling them how they need to improve their lives. Rather, I am interested in who they are and what they do. The question that is always with me is how I can encourage them.

This world of failed organizations and underutilized people is what I have seen for fifty years. This is why I don’t find the political ideologies of the left and right very convincing. They are ideologies of conformity and compliance that further remove them from the realities that the vast majority of people experience.

The Trump Moment

Whatever you think of Donald Trump is irrelevant to this moment in time. Whatever you think he is doing is irrelevant. It is better to step back and observe without judgment. I say this because what he and his team are doing is unprecedented.

Trump is functioning more like a transitional CEO who is brought into a corporation that is in trouble. We can use the Circle of Impact model to analyze what is happening. The method looks at the three dimensions and then asks which one is the problem. When we identify the problem dimensions, then we use the other two dimensions as the sources of solution.

There is always the possibility that more than one dimension is the problem. If so, we choose the dimension that has the highest leverage for change. If all three dimensions are in crisis, as I believe we are in right now, a reboot or restart is often needed. I believe this is what we are witnessing in the Trump administration’s first weeks. In addition, because the global world of institutions is so interconnected, I believe that Trump’s impact will be global rather than simply on the federal government here.

It is vitally important that we do not simply apply a simplistic, ideological perspective to asking these questions. Ideological prejudice corrupts perspective.

Ideas:

What is the purpose of the organization or the federal government of the US?

Are the agencies and departments of government fulfilling their purpose?

What is the impact that they are having?

Does this impact align with the purpose of government?

Relationships:

How do I understand the relationship of the individual citizen to the agencies and departments of government?

Is this relationship one of mutual respect and trust?

If it is not, how would we describe this relationship?

What does respect and trust look like?

What is the impact that this relationship is having on me?

Structure:

Does the Structure of the US Government and its agencies and departments serve the purpose described above?

Does the Structure of the US Government and its agencies and departments facilitate stronger relationships of respect and trust between people and organizations throughout the country?

What is the impact of the Structure of the US Government and its agencies and departments having on my life, my family, my community, and the world at large?

What is the Problem that We Believe Needs to be Solved?

Is it an Idea Problem?

Is it a Relationship Problem?

Is it a Structure Problem?

What is the Problem that the Trump administration is trying to Solve?

For our individual perspective, what is the problem that we believe needs to be solved?

Of the three dimensions of leadership - Ideas, Relationships, and Structure - which dimension poses the greatest problem to solve?

How can the other two dimensions be used to address the problem?

The Trump Moment is not simply a political one. It is a restructuring or restoration of the government.

How Do I Adapt To This Moment?

Context:

The Two Global Forces is the context that we are in right now. I described this perspective in my book, Circle of Impact: Taking Personal Initiative To Ignite Change, as well as a series of Substack posts over the past three years. There are two forces, one a force of global centralization and the other a force of local networks of relationships are always in a dynamic relationship. As the presence of globalism has grown over the past three decades, its weaknesses have become more evident. The Center and Periphery perspective visualizes what happens with centralization loses connection to the scattered world of the periphery.

The Trump Moment is specifically a movement to bring transparency and accountability to the US federal government. The issue of transparency relates to how the government spends the tax dollars it receives from its citizens. There is an expectation by the American people that these tax dollars are spent wisely and accountable. In the first weeks of the renamed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) it has become clear that the systems of government have not been upgraded to the standards of 21st century corporate governance.

This transparency will be hard for many people to accept, and even more difficult for those who may have violated federal law by their use of funds. For all those who cheer on Trump’s cleaning the house of government, the reality is that changes that will emerge will affect all of us. No one is immune from the effect of this reckoning.

Becoming Adaptive in New Ways

I am convinced that whatever being adaptive has meant is going to change. In part because much of the adaption that we have seen is a product of what is known as VUCA - Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. It has been an adaptation within the structure of organizations. Now, we are moving into a context where much of what we must adapt to is apart from these traditional structures My sense is that VUCA remains valid as a way to adapt to a disruptive, highly complex transition environment. Change is happening, but possibly, not in the way we expect it.

I am also convinced that the Trump Moment is not just an American one but a global one. What this will mean is unclear to me, except that what we have known as globalism over the past century is going to dramatically change. Whether we like it or not, this is the reality that we are facing.

Let me, therefore, suggest ways to adapt based on the three dimensions of the Circle of Impact.

Ideas:

The world of ideology is about to change. This will not only be a change in political perspective but also in philosophical perspective. While there is already a movement to rediscover the Classical age of thought and, for some, the Christian roots of Western Civilization, I don’t believe this moment is a turning back to recover some lost age. There is a reason those ages came to an end. Nostalgia for the past will not enable us to address the intellectual challenge that we now face.

We each need to know what we believe. Many of these beliefs may be as old as mankind. To hold them as true means that they have relevance for how we make decisions, relate to people, and conduct ourselves ethically in society.

Knowing the values that matter to us leads us to have a better perception of our purpose or mission in life. If that is a difficult task to do, then think about your life as creating change. What is the difference your life can make in the midst of this moment of disruption and transparency?

I know that my values are centered in the following:

The dignity and potential of each person.

My relationship with people is to communicate love and honor for that person.

And that my purpose is “to encourage and equip people to take personal initiative to create impact in their local community.”

Relationships:

Our relationships in this time of transition will matter more than ever. We can no longer afford to base our relationships on others’ agreement with our political and social ideology. Division only isolates us so that we become more dependent on the systems that are breaking down.

My approach has two focal points.

I do not want to sit in judgment of another person. I don’t want to intentionally create a barrier to our communication or capacity to serve one another. As a person of faith, I adopted the practice of placing Jesus in between me and every other person. My purpose is to see that person as Jesus sees them, specifically what Jesus loves in that person and how I can affirm that potential for their life. The impact is we discover that commonalities that make relationships possible.

My aim is to treat people with respect so that we can develop a relationship of trust. Trust means that we have developed a level of mutual accommodation and accountability that allows us to learn from one another. It is why The Eddy Network has been such a positive force with all who have been my guests.

Lastly, I recognize that in every social and organizational context, “there is a persistent, residual culture of values that persists because it resides in the relationships of the people.” What do those relationships look like? We see a social catalytic phenomenon that brings people together for relationships and service for impact. If we can create these relationships, then we can adapt to a world where organizational structures are failing.

Simply put, this is how I operate:

Treat people with openness, be non-judgmental, and seek to build relationships of mutual respect and trust.

I live to make connections by asking “who do you know that you think I should know, and would you introduce me.” I return that favor as often as I can.

Structure:

People are more adaptable than organizations. People have agency. Organizations have systems. The difference is telling when the system binds the agency of the individual. The inability to create systems that provide a pathway for people to fulfill their potential has brought us to this point in human history.

It does not matter whether AI and advanced technology can ameliorate this dilemma. The reason is that as long as the focus is on the structure, the people are mere objectives used by the structure.

When the focus is on the people, then the structure becomes a tool in the hands of the people. When necessary, we improve the tool or change to a new one.

The key to creating an organizational context of innovation and fulfillment of human potential is strengthening the networks of relationships within organizations.

This perspective is not absent from the world of organizations. It is practiced in most organizations, whether by design or in resistance to a control structure. I see it in “the persistent, residual culture of values that persists because it resides in the relationships of the people.” This culture exists because it is the most human aspect of every social or organizational context.

Reason for Hope

When social and organizational structures become captured by division and ideological hatred, it is a leading indicator that their world is coming to an end. That is their world, not mine.

I do not believe that global institutions are more powerful than the collective agency of individuals living collaboratively as communities of impact.

Whether the Trump administration can have any long-term positive impact is unknown. We do not have the luxury of waiting for him. All we have is ourselves and the time available to us every day.

My final word here:

You and I can have a positive impact on the whole world by taking care of our local communities, the place of our home, and the people and institutions where we invest our lives.

All we must do is turn away from fear and passivity and decide that we are going to be agents of hope and renewal. Don’t play the game where either loving or hating Trump is the extent of your efforts to affect change in the world. It is a waste of time and your potential.

Instead ask the question about the three dimensions of leadership.

Are the problems that I see that are within my capacity to change a problem of Ideas, Relationships, or how we are organized Structurally?

Once you have chosen one, ask the question, what is the Impact that we want?

Then go create the change that makes a difference that matters.

I promise you if you focus on this level of change, you will find other ways to make a difference in the world.

If you want help, reach out and ask, “Who do you know that I need to know and will you introduce us?” If I can, I will.

Thank you for representing my hope for the future of our world.