Tsunami and Change

I have been transfixed by the television images coming from Japan. After an enormous earthquake, the strongest in the recorded history of Japan, a huge tsunami wave washes away to sea buildings, cars, trees, and people. At last count 8,000 people are dead and another 12,000 are missing. The nuclear reactors near the epicenter did not withstand the tremblor. The cooling chambers were ruptured leaking the protective water surrounding the nuclear cores. Radioactive vapor continues to escape in the atmosphere; concern is high that explosions may occur if attempts to cool down the reactors prove unsuccessful.

The Japanese word tsunami means, I am told, catastrophe. There is no better way to describe the desolation, devastation, and human suffering resulting from this mammoth event. Hopelessness, despair, powerlessness, and broken dreams! All in a short in a matter of minutes.

In a remote small town of Tunisia, a lonely and desperate man immolates himself after an arbitrary confiscation of his vegetable cart. This sets off a spontaneous chain of human tsunamies across the Maghreb and to the Middle East. A subsequent insurresction topples the long standing dictator of Tunisia. Soon after the tsunami spreads to Egypt where valiant freedom fighters stand down Mubarak, their strong man of 30 years. Ripples from the change wave reach Jordan where the King swiftly moves to right some injustices. Turmoil soon after erupts in Bahrain and Yemen. Skirmishes are also reported in the Eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia. Unrest in Lybia quickly follows in the eastern province, and spreading quickly West to other cities.

Most, if not all, of these hot spots are still smoldering, with an uncertain conclusion. One cannot stand by and watch helplessly as these events unfold in front of our eyes. Something powerful and beyond explanation is happening. The human spirit, it seems, is alive and well, yearning to be free, eager to pursue happiness.

It has been reported that there are 100 million people in migration in the world today. Men and women who have left their homes in search of work. A human wave stretching across the globe. A wave larger than most countries' population. About 12 million are currently stranded in North Africa looking for ways to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in search of a better life.

Victor Pinero, a colleague that I met years back in Venezuela and later again in California, wrote a book about a tsunami type of change he saw happen in his native island of Curacao. His book went by unnoticed. He re-issued his updated book following the tsunami disaster in South East Asia a few years ago. Victor tried to bring to light the consequences of large scale change inside our organizations. Again, his book went mostly unnoticed.

During my long career, I have seen several organizational tsunami. They are all different, of course, but they also have something in common: a catastrophic event that shakes the organization off its foundations. Some organizations survive, but they are for ever changed. The catastrophic event might be the firing of a charismatic leader, the loss of a major source of revenue, the quick advent of a replacement technology, or an ill-conceived merger. As a result, careers are swept away, prospects destroyed, fortunes lost, and dreams shattered. Human suffering follows for years to come. The wounds might heal but the scars will remain.

I am reminded that we live in a world of uncertainty, a world full of unknowns, a world with hidden tsunamis -- some manageable, others beyond our scope. Although we long for predicability and safety, we are destined to live on shaky ground.

Hemingway said that "life breaks you but makes you stronger in the broken parts". As I reflect on these events, I pray that this is the case for our brothers and sisters in Japan. I pray that this is also the case for our brothers across the Maghreb and the Middle East.