Rogue events closely resemble Fuller’s trim tabs. Rogue events are often small forces that impact on larger forces, which in turn bring about massive change in an organization. There is an important insight to be gained from this connection between rogue events and trim tabs. Appreciative leadership may be effective when it operates like Fuller’s trim tab and when small forces become powerful rogue events.
A leader may not be able to turn the ship or organization herself, for the organization is simply too big, too complex or too unwieldy for any one person to make a major impact. Rather, the effective appreciative leader will pick a specific rogue event that has already occurred or will help to create a small, roguish event, that will, in turn, impact on other moderately large events, which in turn may bring about significant organization-wide changes.
This careful selection of leverage points for change resides at the heart of an appreciative style of leadership. We build on the existing momentum of the organization. We look for the existing skills, knowledge and aspirations of those working in the organization. We lean into the future through creating a compelling image of a feasible future. Put simply, we seek out the natural pulls in the organization. Chaos theorists identify these natural pulls as strange attractors and suggest that these attractors account for some of the most powerful and inherently useful forces operating in dynamic systems. Often, as in the case of Fuller’s trim tab, one will actually produce, use or encourage a rogue event that moves an organization in a direction that is opposite to that which is intended. The reaction against this event will, in turn, create a new momentum that moves the organization in the desired direction.
I am reminded of the biblical tale about the wise King Solomon. Solomon offers to cut a child in half in order to resolve a conflict regarding custody of the child by two contending women. The horrible prospect of such an act drives at least one of the women (the true mother) in the opposite direction. She is willing to give up the child in order to spare its life. In this way, the true mother was discovered. A threatening inhumane act leads to humanity and resolution of the conflict.
An excellent, real-life example regarding the use of leverage and rogue events in corporate life concerns the emergence of courage and honesty among a group of corporate executives in a major American financial institution. I was consulting with a senior vice president in this institution, who had a reputation among his vice-presidential subordinates for being very demanding and intimidating. The Senior Vice President knew that he was discouraging risk-taking behavior through his abrupt manner and wanted to change this style of leadership in order to encourage more creative problem-solving on the part of his staff during a particularly turbulent transition in the life of his institution.
