A recent workshop had me thinking about the importance of being intentional.
The things we call “organic” in an organization, movement, or other endeavor are actually changes, connections, serendipitous moments, and unexpected consequences of something that was originally intentional. The intention creates the environment for the organic to happen.
Now this might seem obvious to you. I suppose it is obvious. But I’ve never heard anybody express it before. Maybe I haven’t been listening? Whatever, it’s an interesting insight that I want to ponder a bit.
You see, things can happen intentional or organically. Said another way, you can plan things to happen or you can just let fate take its course. But either way, you were intentional. Deciding to do nothing and being organic is still a decision.
Here’s an example. A leader of a young but growing fast international organization asked if I thought they should be intentional about being more diverse, or if they should allow diversity to happen in an organic way. I told him that waiting for the organic way to take hold is akin to saying diversity is not a value. It seldom happens by accident.
Now that I reflect on it, I would add that an intentional effort from the leadership will create the unexpected. The organic will still happen, it will simply be pushed forward by intention. Intention allows for the organic.
Entrepreneurial leaders often worry about being too rigid and not allowing flexibility or creativity. Such leaders will swing the pendulum away from organizational planning and keep things ambiguous. But such efforts can be thwarted by not having any values or direction. We need some intention in our leadership. You can’t transform the culture of a workplace simply by waiting for something to happen.