Is Centrism an Opportunity?
Finding Common Ground can Drive Organizational Success
Issue 171, August 1, 2024
When was the last time you thought about centrism? It seems almost quaint in our increasingly polarized public discourse. William Butler Yeats wrote The Second Coming in 1919. The poem has been cited for over 100 years as a cautionary voice for things falling out of balance, evocatively described in the first stanza.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
According to the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, the year 1919 was transformative around the world. On the global stage, troops returned home from World War I; the Treaty of Versailles was signed; and the idea of self-determination, fueled by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s desire for a liberal international order took hold. It was in essence a year of transition emerging from years of war resulting in 40 million causalities. The world was still reeling, and the peace treaty was for all intents and purposes a form of centrism.
Centrism
We prefer to hold onto our viewpoints, professionally and personally, sometimes at all costs. What concerns us is the cost, especially as it impacts an organization. Compromise has a negative connotation, but anyone who has experienced a relationship knows that its survival is based on compromise. Mindsets are tricky; everyone has one. But when mindsets are too rigid, things fall apart, and the center will not hold. And then we’re in big trouble.
By definition, “Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the left or the right.” (Wiki) We’d like to consider a variation on the political concept as a tool for effective leadership and management.
The idea of centrism is how negotiation and drive to consensus can lead to the recognition that collaboration doesn’t result always in everyone’s expected outcomes but opens the door to further progress in the future. A recent article in The Washington Post explores centrism: “Properly understood — and it rarely is — centrism embodies the best of American politics. And it provides the only real path forward for a diverse, fragmented and highly contentious democracy under strain. In fact, embedded within centrism are the precise tools we need to fix what ails our democracy.” You can substitute a dysfunctional organization for democracy and politics, and you get the point.
Let’s press forward with another thought. “Centrism is a mindset. It’s more than humility, tolerance and restraint, although all of those are necessary elements. Above all, it’s an approach to governance, not a list of specific policy prescriptions. Centrists don’t start coups. At its best, centrism appreciates that wisdom does not exist solely on one side or the other of the political spectrum, and it demonstrates the flexibility to combine the best of both traditional conservatives and progressives,” according to the Post. Again, the application of centrism to modern business is to defuse the outlying polarities and find the center point of what is in everyone’s best interests.
Passionate people may view centrism as less than a totally positive picture. But we recognize the importance of “reading the room” or in the case of a polarized organization, how far can one push before retaliation pushes back? The Post adds, “Being a centrist requires a willingness to admit that wisdom is found in different places. It also requires flexibility to incorporate good ideas that may seem contradictory.” We are advocates of systems thinking, which, by definition, requires a willingness to embrace wisdom from different, often unexpected places.
Finding Common Ground
Redefining centrism as an organizational ideology we also want to reframe the Post’s report: “If one sincerely believes there are no permanent victors and no permanent losers; that solutions to problems stem from no single ideological pedigree; and that humility, tolerance and pragmatism are essential to governing (managing) complex, diverse modern countries (organizations), then sizable, even staggering, problems can be effectively addressed.”
Sometimes small steps are required instead of giant leaps to make progress. Active listening, critical thinking, common sense and willingness to find common ground are the benefits of centrism within organizations. Positive centrism is about gradual change that is strategically systemic, holistic and unbiased.
Finding common ground is essential for any transformational change. The key is to find the hinge point of shared interests or agreement among the parties. The rules of engagement are that the parties can agree to disagree, and establishing common ground can help people move past their differences. Common ground is also based on collaboration. And to collaborate, the team needs shared respect.
The Need for Practical Centrism
In a dynamically changing society, where one social media post can go viral instantly, pervasively changing a belief or conversation and upsetting well-laid plans, it appears that disruption has become part of daily life. Organizationally and societally, we have become hooked on near-constant innovation. Our illusion is that innovation will solve our frustrations and problems. However, in the process, we may be so hyper-focused that we forget to step back and listen to those around us. It’s easy and convenient to ignore those who may think differently and not hold our same values and beliefs. Yet, there are alternative paths to solving the same problem and a validity in seeing things in a completely different light. In our energetic race to infuse an organization (or society) with change, we can be tone-deaf to blind spots and polarization.
Separate Poles
Polarization builds high barriers; compromise and consensus are rarely achieved because neither was the goal. Individuals who may be catalyzed as supporters, even champions (if they are given the chance to be heard) of change and transformation, end up on opposite sides of the barrier, entrenched in their positions. Progress is impeded, often derailed by retaliation from either side that neutralizes forward motion.
Think of organizational and societal change as a speeding freight train barreling down the track with cargo either safely secured onboard or unattended and hurled off. The hope is that the majority stays on the train to the destination. But to do that, it takes preparation and planning to protect all the cargo.
Yet, change management is not a freight train, but rather a slower-moving vehicle embracing the flexibility that respects how transition and transformation work. It understands the need to clearly articulate the redefinition of roles and expectations. It masters fair compromise that leads to well-structured results. Staying psychologically centered and positioned in the center are achieved by negotiating, striving for consensus, and sharing knowledge and educating others all the while maintaining an open mind to actively listen. When managed well, change management can lead to iterative, grounded progress.
If you haven’t caught on to our point (at this point), we are suggesting that in times of change and transformation, centrism is an opportunity within our organizations. We need the workforce and our customers to stay on the train voluntarily to a shared destination that benefits everyone.
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