Change has Tides.
While attending a corporate day and listening to presentations on the well-documented and increasing pace of innovation, I found myself connecting three threads: my study of metaphoric language, a conversation with a client, and the different ways employees and organisations experience change. From that came the idea that perhaps change needs seasons, not just speed.
Let’s start at the beginning.
My client was discussing the pace of innovation and change, and the unseen pressure attached to that pace. From both an organisational and individual perspective, this pressure is not tangible or solid; it resides in the mind until it begins to feel real.
Through questioning and facilitation, a metaphor landscape began to develop. Corporate change appeared as a storm ocean, building offshore: white horses, waves growing as they moved towards land, gathering enormous power before crashing onto a beach and destroying what stood in front of them. The image that came was of sandcastles flattening back into what they had been before: sand.
As the wave receded the beauty grew, a new landscape, a new beach, clean, fresh and new wonders to explore.
For the individual, they were part of this wave: an atom of water being pulled along by enormous power. Employees are also part of the undercurrent, the swell beneath the visible surface, and that unseen movement can be more powerful and more dangerous than the wave itself.
Stop here and think.
From an organisational perspective, what influence does this undercurrent have? How often do people reference something unseen yet current: a tide moving with or against the direction of the organisation? We say, “the tide is against us today” or “the wind was with us”, because language often carries the metaphors our mind is already using.
The employee, as part of the undercurrent or swell, can move with the wave or resist being carried by it. There is a choice: retreat back into the ocean, safe and unseen among millions; remain in the undercurrent, quietly resistant to change; or ride the wave and become part of the force that creates a new, more beautiful and more relevant beach.
This is where the metaphor began to shift from a single event of change to a wider system of movement, timing and rhythm.
Moving the perspective to viewing this beautiful beach, maybe from the dunes, or the cliff, or just standing there in the sand. Slow time down or speed it up in your mind. What more do you see?
Over 1 day what do you notice?
Over 1 year?
Working with the client, we began to see high tides and low tides, and to understand that the water as a whole, is influenced by the moon.
Over the year, we explored spring tides: the really high tides, influenced by the moon’s position relative to the Earth and the Earth’s position relative to the sun.
This naturally moved the landscape towards seasons: spring tides, higher water, maximum movement and visible results. Spring cleaning. Springing forward. A season where what has been hidden beneath the surface begins to move, and where change becomes not just an event, but part of a rhythm.
So what started as a conversation about innovation, pace of change, unseen pressure and emotional hijacking became a metaphoric landscape the client could step into. In their own words, they felt more enthused and more part of it, because the metaphor gave shape to something that had previously felt hidden and difficult to hold.
For the organisation, I hope this offers a useful pause. Change may be necessary and positive, but it helps to understand the undercurrents, the swell, and the position of the moon. In other words: what is pulling people, what is resisting movement, and when will the conditions create the greatest impact?
If this is of interest to you as an individual or business leader, please feel free to get in contact. I am continuing to practise and develop my skill in linguistic language, cognitive hypnotherapy and metaphoric landscape work, and I am interested in how this can help people and organisations navigate the ever-increasing pace of change.
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