Homeostasis and Sabotage

It is a well studied truth that organisms and organizations by their nature prefer what scientists call “homeostasis” and what we would describe as “things staying the same.”

This is true of organizations run by humans, and in fact the longer an organization exists the harder it is to get it to change — unless periodic examination of the need for change is built into its very identity. Examples would be businesses that were once large and successful, but the world changes around them and suddenly they can’t adapt to the new reality and they fade away. Blockbuster video rentals is one example most of us will remember. What others can you think of?

This natural desire to have things want to stay the same as before and thus safe and predictable and comfortable happens in churches as well.

Maranatha has just been through a time of transition, and its state and direction are different than they were a year and a half to two and a half years ago. Covid is also largely out of the threat picture. Both of those things will create a desire to return to “normal” now, to “homeostasis.”

But things are not the same, nor is returning to what they were in the time frame I referred to above advisable in any way. So it is important to courageously, in faith, embrace the current momentum rather than resist it. But people will want to resist, whether they do so in a reactionary way or knowingly. Listen for it, watch for it in yourself and know what is happening, and that you are in danger of resisting changes that the STM process has revealed by listening to what grew Maranatha’s people most in the past and focusing on that going forward.

As a caution about that kind of resistance, also called “sabotage” of a new plan, I’ll share an extensive quote from the Book “Canoeing the Mountains” in which leadership author and pastor Tod Bolsinger outlines this danger.

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Sabotage and staying the course

“The important thing to remember about the phenomenon of sabotage is that it is a systemic part of leadership – part and parcel of the leadership process. Another way of putting this is that a leader can never assume success because he or she has brought about a change. It is only after having first brought about a change and then subsequently endured the resultant sabotage that the leader can feel truly successful.” — Edwin Friedman, “failure of nerve”

Understanding Sabotage

Friedman informs us that

sabotage is not merely something to be avoided or wished away; instead, it comes with the territory of leading, whether that “territory” is a family or an organization. And a leader’s capacity to recognize sabotage for what it is — that is, a systemic phenomenon connected to the shifting balances and the emotional processes of a relationship system and not to the institutions specific issues, make up, or goal’s — is the key to the kingdom.¹

Sabotage is natural. It’s normal. It’s part and parcel of the systemic process of leadership… saboteurs are usually doing nothing but unconsciously supporting the status quo. They are protecting the system and keeping it in place. They are preserving something dear to them. 

Many who sabotage you will even claim that they are doing you a favor by doing so. Friedman describes these “peace mongers” as” highly anxious risk-avoiders” who are “more concerned with good feelings than progress” and consistently prefer the peaceful status quo over the turbulence of change — even if change is necessary. … When Jesus challenged the status quo with his notions of what the kingdom would be and what a Messiah should do, one of “his own people” (Judas) turned on him. So, what do we do with sabotage and how do we respond to it so that we can” stay the course” of our convictions for change?

First, expect sabotage. Anticipation is a great defense. To be aware that sabotage is coming will at least keep us from being surprised when it comes. Even if everybody is excited in the beginning stages of a new organizational shift, change, initiative or restructuring, be aware that a time will come when they will certainly not be. Remember, all change, even necessary change, brings loss. Loss heightens anxiety, and anxiety can lead people to do things that even hours before they wouldn’t have considered. Expecting sabotage enables us to stay calm when it comes.

Second, embrace sabotage as a normal part of an organizational life. Even the saboteurs aren’t really to blame. Systems like stability. Natural survival skills demand it, in fact. You, by bringing change, have upset the emotional equilibrium of the system. The Israelites wanted to go back to slavery in Egypt once things got rough in the desert. Systems always look for and find comfort in the familiar. (Do you hear the root word of “family” in familiar? Every organization has its own family system at work.) The art of leadership is helping the system override the instinct to self preservation and replace it with a new organizational instinct to be curious about and open to the terrifying discomfort of asking, Could God be up to something here?

Third, don’t take it personally. The people following you may be shooting you in the back, but it’s really not you they are sabotaging, it’s your role as leader. They are sabotaging the change you are bringing. And to be clear, they would do this to any leader. By not taking it personally, we can keep monitoring ourselves and keep from reacting in a way that will make the situation worse.

Fourth, focus your attention on the emotionally strong, not the saboteurs. We are so focused on quieting our critics, appeasing or answering our accusers and shielding ourselves from the friendly fire that it often knocks us off course.

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1 “Failure of nerve” pages 278 to 279 by Edwin Friedman