A phenomenon I call the SuperLoop is a common root of these problems. The SuperLoop is a self-reinforcing cycle based on what we have come to believe about the world, the biological reactions we have to situations (what gives us pleasure or pain, physical satisfaction or anxiety, dopamine or adrenaline), and what behaviors we use to respond to those bodies and beliefs. These situations often result in being trapped in self-perpetuating patterns of anxiety and reaction that have become a dysfunction that starts on the individual level and then spreads up through the entire organization.
SOLUTIONS THROUGH OPERATIONALIZING THE SUPERLOOP PRAXIS
There’s a gap between being aware of these negative cycles and effectively taking action to fix them. My solution is the SuperLoop Praxis, a process-based means of engaging with the SuperLoop system to engage with Actionable Awareness to harness human potential, resulting in maximized performance outcomes.
The SuperLoop Praxis allows us to understand how our perceptions, our bodies and our brains create our behavior. SuperLoop Praxis scales from the individual to the team and then all the way up to the entirety of an organization. A group of committed humans working together, free from the ego, anxiety, and actively aware of their beliefs, biology and behavior is a powerful force. By understanding and actively engaging with these loops, individuals and organizations can interrupt patterns that no longer serve the group and intentionally create new patterns of behavior that create a transformational culture.
The training for mastering the SuperLoop involves engaging in methods that develop authentic communication through role practice and ensuring that people are prepared for provocative conversations practicing healthy conflict. The goal of these sessions is to provide skills that allow individuals to become more conscious of their SuperLoop and to thereby create an actionable awareness of themselves.
Here are some of the foundational practices for firms to implement the SuperLoop Praxis:
1. Saying the Unsaid
Much of what hampers our communication at work, and ultimately leads to low engagement and dysfunction, is that we do not say the unsaid. We are frequently aware of tension and important facts, but we do not address them because we have been socially conditioned to remain mute in the face of power hierarchies.
Being allowed to say the unsaid frees individuals to be authentic, to speak up about ideas, mistakes, questions and concerns without fear of humiliation or reprisal. It develops a work culture where everyone feels respected and conflict is no longer avoided because it is seen as healthy, not confrontational, and an opportunity for everyone and the company to grow.
Leaders of law firms must instill the practice of saying the unsaid in order to provide the psychological safety everyone needs. People should be invited to share their authentic perspectives in a nonthreatening environment.
Healthy conflict allows for multiple viewpoints to be included and processed as part of a decision-making and resolution structure. Unhealthy conflict is filled with generalizations and attacks that activate the SuperLoop. It doesn’t contain data statements or specifics, and it doesn’t offer a way forward or a path to understanding.
Leaders of law firms must instill the practice of saying the unsaid in order to provide the psychological safety everyone needs. People should be invited to share their authentic perspectives in a nonthreatening environment. The organization benefits from the talent of everyone by normalizing the practice of giving and receiving contrasting perspectives. In SuperLoop Praxis, all meetings end with the agenda item of saying the unsaid.
2. Asking Curious Questions
Curious questions create a space for deeper, authentic listening and worthwhile, balanced conversations. An individual utilizing curious questions will have an awareness of their biases going into the discussion, but curious questions are intended to be collaborative instead of demanding a response. They are invitations to communicate that support all parties in being seen, felt and heard.
These questions are distinctly about non-judgment. They should involve a genuine desire for more information and an awareness that the individual making the inquiry is missing information and context. They are about solutions rather than about confirming one’s judgment.
3. Calling Forward
This is the process of engaging with an individual directly with the belief that their commitment is to be the highest and best version of themselves, aligned with their commitment to the team’s values and in a neutral fashion. Calling forward creates the space for us all to show up in new ways rather than perpetuating labels based on past patterns of behavior.
Not calling forward sends the message that a given behavior is acceptable. If we are accountable, when we have made a commitment and it is not kept, we need to communicate about it so that it does not seep into the culture. The final goal of calling forward is to find a way forward that benefits everyone involved. This doesn’t necessarily mean accommodating the desires of every participant.
CREATING A SAFE ENVIRONMENT
The SuperLoop Praxis process creates a space for a better, more collaborative working environment. Organizations with long-standing, seemingly intractable culture-deep issues find themselves transformed by their sudden ability to deal openly with hidden systemic problems or to break long-standing cultural norms that have been restrictive. They create innovation and productivity in places that seemed untenable in their old culture.
