Be more like a dragonfly
How can we create effective change by being more like a dragonfly?
The Dragonfly Effect revisited
The dragonfly not only is a very ancient insect species, it is also the only insect that can move in any direction when its four wings work coherently together. It moves with simplicity, effectiveness, power, elegance, and grace.
This inspired Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith in 2010 to use it as a metaphor for achieving quick and effective social change using social media. They called it The Dragonfly Effect, cleverly paraphrasing the well-known butterfly effect1, and written a book about it with that title.
In their words (the emphasis is mine):
Why the dragonfly? The dragonfly is the only insect able to propel itself in any direction when its four wings are working in concert. It symbolises the importance of integrated effect and is akin to the ripple effect—a term used in economics, sociology, and psychology to indicate how small acts can create big change. To us, the Dragonfly Effect shows how synchronised ideas can be used to create rapid transformations through social media. - Aaker & Smith, Stanford Social Innovation Review, winter 2011.
I would like to extend their model beyond social media and social change and suggest that synchronised ideas and activities can be used to create rapid organisational transformation through conversation, where social media use is just one way of many to engage in conversations.
And a dragonfly also has two large compound eyes, each with thousands of lenses, and three further eyes with simple lenses. Each retina contains several thousand photoreceptors that collect light and send information about the visual scene to interneurons, which further process the information. It is seeing 360 degrees around it. Thus, it has very high levels of connectedness and awareness of its surrounding environment, in order to quickly act and react in order to achieve whatever it tries to achieve. And since they have been around for over 300 million years and that today represent 3000 or more extant species are known, it seems the combination of vision and agility are a recipe for success.
By applying their vision as another important element to the metaphor that we can formulate the Enhanced Dragonfly Model.
DEFINITION - The Enhanced Dragonfly Effect shows how synchronised ideas and actions combined with high levels of connectedness to, and awareness of, the surrounding environment can be used to create sustainable, highly adaptable, rapid transformations through effective conversations.
Thus, the dragonfly is a symbol of continuous, adaptive transformation by continuous change in perspective and self-realisation.
This article starts to explore how our organisations can use this metaphor to be as successful as dragonflies in achieving our strategic change objectives.
And we will use the Enhanced Dragonfly Effect Model to do that.
The Enhanced Dragonfly Effect
Building on Aaker & Smith’s social media-focused model we identify five main elements to explore how we can obtain sustainable and highly adaptable transformations, quickly and effectively.
In the Enhanced Dragonfly Effect Model we emphasise the continuous and conscious integration of the four key wings and the high levels of connectedness and awareness of our surroundings provided by the dragonfly’s exceptional visual system.
Each of the four wings represent a different element that needs to continuously be framed by what our eyes can see and sense.
Be aware - This is about understanding the business context, a community setting, or any other space we operate in. Before setting our goals and starting the conversation, thoroughly understand the environment in which we operate. Consider the cultural, social, and economic factors that may influence our efforts. And being connected to our (business) environment and being aware of how it impacts us, and who we impact our environment, is a continuous exercise.
Focus - This involves clearly defining the specific goal or strategic objective that we want to address. Having a focused and meaningful purpose is crucial for creating a tangible impact. See also this article on our identity and purpose that was written in the context of OpenAI’s wobbles late last year.
Grab Attention - In the context of social media, this often refers to creating compelling and shareable content. Beyond social media, it extends to capturing attention through various means, such as traditional media, events, or community engagement. These are activities specific to our focus area.
Engage - Engaging our people emotionally and intellectually is essential. Beyond social media platforms, this needs to involve in-person events, workshops, partnerships, or any other form of direct interaction that fosters a sense of community and involvement. This is the essence of the organisational conversations that are core to my consulting practice. What is the compelling question that engages our people in this conversation?
Take Action - The ultimate goal is to inspire our people to take meaningful action. Beyond social media, this could include volunteering, fundraising, participating in events, or any other concrete steps that contribute to our objectives. The essence is to translate engagement in effective action. In the article I wrote about high performing teams, there are some useful recommendations to achieve that,
The enhancement to the original model is that our conscious awareness of what is happening around us, will make us put more or less energy in any of the four wing elements, as and when required.
How to become a Dragonfly?
Recognising the key elements to be able to create sustainable, highly adaptable, rapid transformations is, of course, very important. They are essential to develop and nurture the effective conversation that is, in fact, our organisation.
And, to make ensure we have these effective conversations in our organisations, we need to look at some supporting attributes that require our thorough attention.
Leadership
Be aware of leadership and power dynamics
Understand the leadership and power dynamics within our community or organisation where the transformation or change is being pursued. Identify our key influencers and leaders who can champion our cause.
Engage and mobilize leaders
Collaborate with the influential leaders to support and endorse the initiative. Engage them in spreading awareness and encouraging others to take action.
Trust
Build trust through transparency
Foster trust by being transparent about our goals, actions, and impact of our change initiatives. Communicate openly and honestly to build credibility.
Involvement and participation
Actively involve our people in our conversations and our decision-making process. Solicit input, listen to their concerns, and incorporate their feedback to build trust and create shared ownership.
Learning
Continuous learning culture
Promote a culture of continuous learning within our projects, programmes and business teams. Encourage stakeholders to stay informed about the evolving nature of our challenges and adapt our strategies accordingly.
Feedback loops
Establish feedback mechanisms to gather insights from our people. Use this feedback to refine and improve our strategies over time, creating a learning loop.
Collaboration
Partnerships and Alliances
Form strategic partnerships with other organisations, NGOs, or community groups that share a common interest in our change initiatives. Collaborative efforts will greatly amplify their impact.
Cross-sector collaboration
Explore collaboration opportunities across different sectors, bringing together businesses, government entities, and the wider society to address our challenges comprehensively.
Creativity
Innovative communication strategies
Infuse creativity into our communication strategies to capture attention and make the strategic objective more relatable. Use storytelling, multimedia, and unconventional approaches to convey the message.
Creative problem-solving
Encourage a creative problem-solving mindset to address our challenges and barriers. Embrace unconventional solutions that may bring about more effective and sustainable change.
By nourishing these attributes to support our Enhanced Dragonfly Effect, we create a more comprehensive and adaptable framework for transformation and change. Leadership provides direction, trust builds credibility, learning fosters adaptability, collaboration enhances collective impact, and creativity makes the initiative more engaging and memorable. Together, these elements can strengthen the overall effectiveness of our conversations to drive positive transformation and change.
In future articles, we may well expand on both the core elements of the model and the supporting attributes, because they are fundamental to how our organisations can operate most effectively.
But, for now, I wonder whether you like the idea of being (more like) a dragonfly.
Does this model make sense to you in the context of organisational change?
Are there any other supporting attributes that you believe are important?
When studying complexity science applied to the social the idea that small changes in one place can have large effects elsewhere is a key principle that we need to be sensitive to.