Evan Renaerts

Movers and Shakers

November 1, 2007

Today holds a quality of gray silence I associate with winter, as though a snow fall is gathering itself just out of sight.

There’s a kind of nursery room “toy,” called a mobile, which is made up of several different shaped pieces, each suspended from a thread, and usually hung over a baby’s or a child’s bed. A feature of all mobiles is that if you touch or move one of the pieces, all of the pieces move – changing places in relation to each other.

Mobiles have been used as an image in the study of family systems to demonstrate how family dynamics work and of course family dynamics are what we tend to see in all human relationships. In this understanding there are a number of roles in the family or the group (the pieces in the mobile) and each person occupies a role, everyone playing their part.

Every family, group or organizational system works on the same principle as the mobile, when ever someone gives up a role and moves to a new way of behaving or expressing, then everyone else in that system moves as well. One person stops leading and another steps forward; silence the “trouble maker” and a new one emerges – the system is continually seeking to express its wholeness.

One systems model proposes that there are four key roles: the mover, the opposer, the follower and the bystander. The mover is the person (role) that initiates the new. They offer up new ideas, start projects and generally look for ways to keep things moving.

The opposer (or shaker) questions the mover’s initiatives and is often identified as the malcontent or the trouble maker and their role in a system is often shunned or marginalized. Followers are those helpful people who ask thoughtful questions about proposals and projects and help them to become better thought out. Bystanders are the ones who stay out of the center and because of this can often offer up a clearer perspective of what is happening for the whole system.

These roles can be expressed along a spectrum from very negative to very positive. Movers who offer one new idea after another, never allowing time for anything to become integrated can wear out any organization. Opposers who only point out flaws and never offer helpful suggestions can undermine moral and foster a climate of cynicism.

Followers who fail to raise good questions may simply go along with whatever is popular or politically acceptable, thereby depriving the organization of valuable insights. And bystanders who stay on the edges and never really participate tend to draw energy away without giving much back.

It can be very powerful for an organization to consciously work with the understanding of these roles – to support each of the roles and draw them out in there most positive aspects. Even the opposer, the role most organizations fear, can be supported and encouraged to bring their wisdom forward in positive ways.

By acknowledging what is real and present in our organizations we can help to bring all of these elements to maturity, and at the same time learn to trust and appreciate what each of these roles offers to the combined intelligence of our organizations.

It is important to remember that all four of these “characters” are roles and that the people in our organizations may change from a mover to an opposer to a follower or a bystander and back again. The more we can create a place where it is safe for each person to freely move from role to role (even within a single meeting), then the more vital and responsive our organizations become.

I love the understanding of life as improvisational theatre – we jump on to the stage; move it, shake it, and then stand back and see where it takes us. The more we learn to do this with a spirit of goodwill and a caring for the well-being of the whole, the richer and more rewarding the whole play becomes.

Evan Renaerts
604 314 0835
evan@evanrenaerts.com