It’s about the ripples, not the splash.
Changing the conversation for good by being the pebble in the pond.
Interrupting the normal flow with a pause.
Creating fresh sight with questions, not answers.
Birthing new stories about how things are that shift how we talk.
Together, becoming the change we want to see.
Welcome to The Art of Quiet Disruption.
Pause. See differently. Re-story…
Do you wonder why we’re still talking about change management? And waiting for someone else to lead the transformation we’re longing for?
Me too.
After writing about Quiet Disruptors and sharing their stories, I wanted to understand more about how quiet disruptions work.
To go beyond the noun to the verb. The doing of quiet disruption in a fundamentally different way.
Reflecting on all that I observed and knew from personal experience, I realised that this emergent shift may have three distinct phases:
PAUSE – SEE DIFFERENTLY – RE-STORY
Our brains are beautifully wired to operate on autopilot, allowing us to function safely and effectively in the fast-paced, high-stress environment of our work and lives.
Therefore, we need some kind of interruption to see ourselves and the world differently and hear each other well. This is the space where possibilities can emerge.
However, these insights cannot be unseen and intuitively require us to construct new stories about how things are because the old ones no longer work.
This is creating change without shouting…
Practical Contemplation
Since identifying The Art of Quiet Disruption, I have realised that the process of intentionally pausing to see ourselves and our world differently, leading to a new narrative, could underpin a broader practice of Practical Contemplation.
This takes the three phases and frames them as a way of working with others to enable them to become more fully alive in a changing world.
If you are interested in learning more, visit Practical Contemplation or see what we are doing at Waterside Voices.