What do you think might happen if we renamed the ‘groan zone’ something less likely to produce groans and more likely to produce fruitful, creative, useful and insightful discussion, such as ‘the unknown zone’, ‘prime time’, ‘juice sluice’, ‘possibility land’… or..? (And I’m sure you can find other creative names).
Best regards,
Paul Z Jackson
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It’s good to be thoughtful about this.
Often I introduce it as the Groan Zone — which is very apt because it literally makes you feel like groaning (or in the case of our recent week-long trip on the Baltic: seasick). Then I say: “it could also be called the ‘Grown Zone’, because if you can stick with it, something rich and fruitful will come out of it.”
I think it’s time to call things what they are, even if that truth speaking could be uncomfortable and then let people know what it could become if we chose to see it differently.
I am interested in whatever else occurs to you, too, Paul!
Mary Alice Arthur
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Hi Paul et al
A small addition to the conversation with some links to another thinker who uses a 'groan' zone..
I have been doing a lot of work on transitioning our organisation into a new structure - more outwardly looking and with less dollars - and have based change workshops on William Bridges work on transitioning (check out his great book Managing Transitions as it is full of great questions).
He has three phases very similar to the divergence, emergence and convergence model. He starts with endings - which equates to the divergence phase as people need to let go of the old world and we need to recognise the endings that are needed to allow this. It also fits with the disturbance, possibility and questioning phase.
His middle zone he calls the Transition zone. For change to happen and for a new way of being to emerge we need to stay in that zone. He gives it a very neutral name - 'transitioning'. A neutral name I think to allow the good things to happen as well as the hard things. To me that doesn't express the need to stay in the emergent zone and really work at resisting grabbing the answer and closing down. It is always hard to stay there. As such I have mostly been calling it the groan zone. The optimists have been a bit unhappy with that so I shall also call it the growth zone - (thanks Mary Alice). I agree with Mary Alice's call that the name depends on the context. What ever you call it I think it needs to express the work needed and the pain that happens in it.
His third phase is beginnings and fits well to the convergent phase.
Thanks Simone for the graphic as it is a lovely reminder of the phases and steps.
Regards
Scott Nicol
