Glimmers of hope

Don't you love the word 'glimmer'?

Light glimmers off of the ocean, you can spot a glimmer of something in someone's eyes, and of course; sometimes all that's needed is a slight glimmer of hope to keep us motivated enough to carry on.

It's one of those English words that just ignite something in the soul as it rolls rather chaotically over the tongue. And recently our attraction to the word was heightened further when we spent some time forging a deeper understanding of just how powerful a construct 'a glimmer' actually is.

In psychological terms, and referring to something known as Polyvagal Theory - 'glimmers' are classified as 'micro-moments of nervous system regulation that foster feelings of well-being'.

The smell of sea air, patting a friendly dog, a simple walk in a beautiful forest, connecting with an old friend - these seemingly small, fleeting and simple encounters are enough to help us recalibrate how we see, and experience, the world.

"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears." - Nelson Mandela

In a recent keynote presentation I shared some ideas about the need for strategists when delivering their strategy message to not just communicate information to the brains of their audience, but instead to aim to facilitate helping people feel something about the future that you are proposing. And that feeling is best created by designing and constructing these 'glimmers' into the strategy transfer process that delight and enthral the nervous system.

'The autonomic nervous system is at the heart of our lived experience: it’s where it all begins. The brain takes information coming up from neural pathways and makes up a story that makes some sort of sense based on this information.' - via The WXO.

The theory is that thanks to evolution we are always on the look out for cues of danger as well as opportunities to connect. Through the nervous system we are constantly filtering environmental stimuli that indicate danger or safety. Triggers prime us for a fight or flight response; glimmers are momentary paths towards safe connections with ourselves, others and the future.

Both are important, but if we develop an imbalance this can lead to feelings of burnout, anxiety and overwhelming stress and us choosing (subconsciously) to withdraw ourselves for reality.

By intentionally experiencing more glimmers (through a process of awareness and appreciation) we are able to better regulate the nervous system to be more resilient in the face of ongoing challenges.

One of the leading practitioners of Polyvagal Theory is Deb Dana who explains how we might think about how we filter and process our realities.

What does this mean for strategy and innovation?

Most strategy work is cerebral by nature and arguments for change are more often than not presented very logically. But organisations are made up of people; people who individually have hopes and fears and an extremely complex system through which they interpret change. Just presenting an image of the future or a strategy that is different from the lived reality that people have become accustom to will undoubtedly lead to significant resistance and a guaranteed failure of the programme.

Strategy needs to combine logic and critical thinking with these 'glimmers of hope' if it is going to truly connect people with the alternate future that is being proposed. Glimmers can be designed and intentionally used to open people up to alternatives and help lubricate the path between the 'as it is'-moment and the 'as it could be'-future.

It is not to say that simply telling people what to do and then using a big stick to compel them to act accordingly won't yield results at all, but there is a far better way of creating hope that generates spontaneous motivation to act through the deliberate use of a more holistic approach to futures communication.