A number of years ago I read a series of leadership books written by Max Depree, former CEO of the furniture maker Herman Miller. These books were inspiring both in their simplicity and also in their application. In many ways the design and content of the books – Leadership is an Art, Leadership Jazz and Leading without Power – were formative contributions to my own style of leadership and my career path.
One of the concepts that has remained with me from the book Leadership Jazz is the idea of ‘water carriers’. In the book he discusses the respected role of water carriers in First Nations peoples. They were responsible for finding and carrying the life force of water, critical to the survival of everyone in the tribe.
I like to think of the valuable contribution of water carriers in our existing organizations. For me, water carriers are those individuals who carry forward the history and culture of the organization. This water is the life force that brings us together and holds us together over tough times.
But too often we disregard the importance and value of water carriers. In our rapidly changing and complex
society we focus forward and lean toward the newest idea, the newest opportunity and the newest collaboration. We disregard the past and by doing this, the lessons and patterns that the past might reveal.
It’s not that I am totally disavowing moving forward, I actually think it is critical to move forward, but I also recognize the importance of carrying the stories and the histories of what has happened in the past. There is that famous saying that I am paraphrasing here – those who disregard the past will probably repeat it.
Who are the water carriers in your organization? Who are those people that can be the touchstones, provide the perspectives that will prevent history from repeating itself? How can we engage them in a way that does not subscribe to the mantra – we did that before and it did not work?