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December 2010
This month's newsletter focuses on key takeaways from the book The Three Laws of
Performance by Steve Zaffron and David Logan who offer an answer to:
How can conversations enable organizations & leaders to rewrite the future?
Law 1: How People Perform Correlates to How Situations Occur To Them.
A person's experience includes one's view of the past (why things are the way they
are) & the future (where things are going). Facilitators cultivate awareness in
participants about their own subjectivity through open‐ended questions that invite
insight in to how we interpret situations. Continue inquiring & reflecting until the
actions of the "other" are understood to be reasonable from the actor's point of view.
Law 2: How a Situation Occurs Arises in Language.
"Language" includes spoken & written communication, body language, facial
expressions, tone of voice, images, music, appearance and any actions with symbolic
intent. The unsaid is the most important part of language. But when unsaid &
communicated without awareness, language becomes linguistic clutter, such as:
assumptions, expectations, disappointments, resentments, regrets, interpretations,
significance and issues that feel dangerous.
The key to performance is not pushing new conversations about strategy or
reorganization into an already cluttered space. Articulating the unsaid ‐ that's when
space begins to open up.
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Recognizing the "unsaid" begins with oneself:
(1) Be aware of the talking voice inside your head. Its loop‐track takes up much of
your awareness.
(2) Be aware of your own "rackets":
A complaint that has persisted for some time; A pattern of behavior that goes
along with the complaint; A payoff for having the complaint persist; A cost for
this behavior.
The payoff & cost are evident in the realm of unsaid & unaware. Name the racket &
recognize that how a situation occurs to a person is exactly what holds him/her back
from breakthrough performance. When you name the unsaid, at first the situation
sounds absurd; then you naturally think of ways to clear it out. The learning here is:
name what is unsaid and deal with it.
Law 3: Future‐based Language Transforms How Situations Occur to People.
People live into the future they perceive coming at them. This "default future" is
made up of one's expectations, fears, hopes, and predictions, all of which are based
on past experiences.
Future‐based (generative) language creates a future to replace the default.
Recognize that facts do not constrain people, language does. Name the default
future and ask, “do we really want this as our future?” Complete unresolved issues
from the past. Completing means moving it from the “default future” in to the past
so the issue no longer drives one’s actions nor continues to color how situations
occur to a person. Then, envision with others what future would inspire action for
everyone. Address the concerns of everyone involved, and be real in the moment
of speaking. When you have a shared vision people will naturally self‐organize to
realize it.
Leadership that arises from the Three Laws of Performance has the power to rewrite
the future of an organization. The authors call these perspectives "leadership
corollaries".
Leadership Corollary 1: Leaders have a say, and give others a say, in how situations
occur.
Leaders who empower others to rewrite & realize futures can transform any situation,
no matter how seemingly impossible. Ask yourself the following questions:
How can I interact with others so that situations occur more empowering to them?
What processes, dialogues, or meetings can I arrange so that people feel like co‐
authors of a new future, not merely recipients of a default future?
Leadership Corollary 2: Leaders master the conversational environment
What makes the most difficult situations become malleable are the conversations
that exist, or can exist, in an organization. For most organizations, the network of
conversation is noisy, conflicted and filled with chatter describing a default future.
This conversational environment makes new & different futures difficult to imagine.
Two elements needed for a conversational environment to achieve breakthrough
performance are:

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‐ an ongoing, company‐wide commitment to resolving incompletion
‐ implanting integrity. Integrity creates a condition of workability. (Without it,
effectiveness is diminished and displaced by broken promises and a lack of
accountability.)
Leadership Corollary 3: Leaders listen for the future of their organization
Leaders create conversations composed of future‐based language. These
conversations invent futures for the organization that previously did not exist.
However, leaders do not rewrite the future by themselves. They create the space
and provide the “listening” for that future.
Conclusion: Creating a Self‐Led Organization
Honoring one’s word (integrity) creates complete social and working relationships
which provides an actionable pathway to earning the trust of others. A person who
acts in this way is "Self‐led." Self, with a capital “S”, represents a full integration of
all parts of a person; it arises in language and through conversations.
A Self‐led organization is created by stakeholders' participation in the organization’s
conversational ecology. This network of conversations enable organizations to
continually rewrite the future and by doing so are able to adapt to the inevitable
oscillations of business and life! Through conversation, the organization’s Self
emerges ‐ this is the collective essence of how stakeholders view a future that
inspires and fulfills their concerns.
The conversational environment needs to include integrity & future‐based
communication in order for new futures to emerge. Once leaders enable
stakeholders' alignment along declarations about the new future of the company,
managers can then build systems, processes, policies and procedures to turn the
declarations into reality.
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朝邦文教基金會 『對話新訊息』12 月份
12 月份的朝邦對話新訊息資料來源出自『績效的三大定律』一書。作者 Steve
Zaffron and David Logan, 針對『對話如何協助組織與領導者改寫未來？』這個
議題提供他們的真知灼見。
績效表現的三大定律
績效第一定律： 人們的表現和他們對情況如何發生的看法具有
關聯性
領導力法則一： 領導者對事情有自己的看法也要讓別人有他們的看法
績效第二定律： 語言可以改變人們對情況發生方式的看法
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領導力法則二： 領導者善用對話環境
績效第三定律：以未來式語言來轉化情況的發生方式
領導力法則三：領導者傾聽組織的未來
績效第一定律： 人們的行為表現和他們對情況如何發生的看法具有關聯性
一個人的經驗，包括他對過去的看法(事情為什麼會這樣)以及將來(事情會如何
發展)。引導者透過提出開放式的問題，啟發參與者的主觀覺察力，邀請他們對
發生情況提供有洞見的詮釋，不斷持續地探詢與反思，直到從個人的角度能夠理
解別人的行為。
績效第二定律： 語言可以改變人們對情況發生方式的看法
語言包括溝通上的口語、文字、肢體語言、面部表情、語調、形象、音樂、外
表以及任何帶有象徵性企圖的行為。沒有說出來的通常是最重要的。但是當沒
有被說出來而且溝通時欠缺察覺力，語言反而成了文字垃圾，這些包括假設、
期待、失望、遺憾、後悔、詮釋、象徵性以及感到危險的議題。績效表現的關
鍵不在於推動與策略有關的新對話或重整進入一個已經混亂的空間；清楚的表
達未說出口的話──空間也將因此而打開。
辨識『未說的語言』必須從自己開始：
(1)要留意在你腦海中的聲音。那個聲音週而復始佔據你大部分的覺察力。
(2)要留意你自己的「雜音」：那些是存在已久的抱怨、隨著抱怨而來的行為模
式、抱怨繼續存在所帶來的好處以及為這個行為付出的代價。
未說出的與未察覺的語言所帶來的好處與代價顯而易見。為你內在的雜音命
名，認清一個人之所以無法突破表現與他看待情況如何發生在他身上有關。當
你能幫未說出口的表達命名時，剛開始的時候可能有點荒謬，接著你自然地會
想出方法來清理它。這裡的學習重點是：說出未說出口的事情然後處理它。
績效第三定律：以未來式語言來轉化情況的發生方式
人們活在他們的認知所看到的未來。這個「預設的未來」是由個人的期待、恐
懼、希望與預測所構成，這些都與個人過去經驗有關。
以未來為主的「創生性」語言創造未來取代預設的未來。我們要知道壓抑我們
的不是實相而是語言。為預設的未來命名，問自己：「我們真的希望我們的將
來是這樣嗎？」接著「完成」過去未解決的議題。「完成」的意思是將這件事
從「預設的未來」拋回到過去，讓它不再驅動我們的行為也不再繼續渲染我們
對情境的認知。接著，要與別人一起想像一個能引發大家行動的未來─說出每
個相關者的擔憂並且在對話中真誠表達。當大家有了共同願景就會自動自發地

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實踐它。
根據『績效表現三大定律』而產生的領導力會擁有改寫組織未來的
力量。作者將這個衍生性觀念稱為『領導力法則』。
領導力法則一： 領導者對事情有自己的看法也要讓別人有他們的看法
那些懂得授權給別人改寫未來、創造未來的領導者都能夠扭轉乾坤，不論事情
看起來是多麼不可能。試者問問自己以下這些問題：我如何和別人互動讓他們
覺得更被授權？我能夠安排什麼樣的流程、對話、會議讓人們覺得他們是改寫
新未來的共同作者，而不只是「預設的未來」的接受者？
領導力法則二： 領導者善用對話環境
一個組織如果能夠有對話或者容許對話發生，就能夠讓最艱困的局面消弭無
形。對於多數的組織而言，對話都是嘈雜、充滿衝突以及喋喋不休地描述「預
設的未來」。這樣的環境使得人們很難想像一個嶄新的未來。要能有突破的表
現，以下這兩個元素是對於一個對話性的環境來說不可或缺的：
(1)對於解決未處理完的議題有持續地、全面性的承諾。
(2)在組織內植入誠信風氣。
誠信風氣創造一種可行的環境。(缺乏誠信的結果是工作效率降低，跟隨而來
的是不信守諾言、缺乏當責)
領導力法則三：領導者傾聽組織的未來
所有具生產力的的創生性語言都需要言行一致，就像是對未來的一個宣言。
這些對話為組織創造一些原本不存在的未來性。然而領導者自己並不改寫未
來，他們開啟空間傾聽組織未來。
總結：創造一個自我領導的組織
信守諾言(誠信)可以創造一個整體/完整的社會及工作關係。這種行為提供我們
一條贏得他人信任的可行途徑。那些具有這種行為的人通常被稱為「自我領導
者」。自我，放大的「我」代表著完完全全地將一個人所有的部分都整合起
來。透過語言與對話可以達到這種境界。
自我領導的組織是透過利益相關者參與在組織的對話生態而產生。這個對話網
絡讓組織能夠持續的改撰寫未來，並進而適應企業與生命不可避免的變動！透
過對話，組織的自我開始形成──這是集體智慧的精髓，代表的是利益相關者
如何看待一個令人鼓舞且能夠滿足他們關心的未來。
對話的環境需要誠信和以未來為基礎的溝通才能讓新未來浮現。一旦領導者和
利益相關者對於公司的新未來宣言有一致性，管理者就能夠建構制度、流程、
規章、程序讓宣言成真。
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