Do You Hear the Unheard Melodies in Your Organization?
I’ve been doing quite a bit of pondering lately, some of it via words and some of it painting. A recent illustration I did of my daughter, Sophie, playing in her band stirred up a memory from the muddy depths of my mind-lake. As it made its way to the surface, it created waves of thoughts about systems, complexity, communication, collaboration, and organization dynamics.
<recollection>
I’m driving in the car with my daughter Sophie in the back and we are listening to the radio.
And I hear “Hey, Dad, that chord progression is the same as this other song I love (tells me the title, which I don’t recall… and it’s not important to the story).”
I think for moment, and reply “Cool. Um, What’s a chord progression?”
Sophie: “Dad? It’s a progression. Of course.”
Me: “I got that part. But what do you mean?”
Sophie: “I don’t know how to explain it. Here. Let me find it on my phone I’ll play it.”
We listen.
Sophie: “Did ya hear it?”
Me: “No, not really.”
Sophie: “Okay, here, I can play the first song but I’m gonna sing the words of the second song. Okay. Listen”
Me: “Wow. My tone challenged ears get it. That’s really cool. Sophie, how? How does your brain do that?”
Sophie: “I don’t know. It just does.”
Me: Silent appreciation.
Me: “Kiddo, you play a lot of instruments. Some of them, like the trumpet, have valves. And you play the guitar that has what six strings, and you play the piano that has a bunch of keys and the clarinet and the violin and the ukulele and…. like, how do you keep it all straight?”
Sophie: “Well, it’s all music”
Me: “Yeah, but sometimes you’re creating it by expelling air through your lips, other times you’re strumming with your fingers, or moving a bow with your arms. I just don’t get how your brain gets your body to do that from instrument to instrument.”
Sophie: “Well, I don’t really either, but I’ll tell you what. I know you like to draw, right?”
Me: “Yeah.”
Sophie: “And you can draw with a brush, a crayon, pencil, chalk. Sometimes even a stick in the sand.”
Me: “Yeah.”
Sophie: “Well, that’s how I am with those musical instruments. Just me drawing with music. Sounds and silence. Shadows and light. Hey, let’s go get some ice cream!”
<end recollection>
It was such a perfect Sophie moment there in the car. Profound insight followed by simple joy.
And today, it’s got me thinking… about expanding my ability to recognize patterns. To make connections between ideas and experiences that seem unrelated at first. What insights are hiding in plain sight, waiting to be noticed? What harmonies can I learn to hear? What flavor of ice cream to try next…
Learning as a Living Process
I’m exploring systems thinking through the writing of Nora Bateson as well as Donella Meadows and a few others. A few of the many wonderful ideas:
Symmathesy
Nora Bateson has coined a new word: Symmathesy—learning that happens in relationship. It’s not static knowledge but an ongoing, mutual process of change between living things.
Sophie didn’t learn music by memorizing definitions of chord progressions. She learned by playing, listening, improvising, feeling. Her understanding is shaped by her interactions—with instruments, with songs, with her own creativity.
Organizations work the same way. A company doesn’t learn just because it holds training sessions. Teams don’t grow through rigid structures. True learning emerges from relationships—how people interact, experiment, adapt.
Aphanipoiesis
I asked Sophie how she keeps track of all the instruments she plays—trumpet, piano, guitar, violin, clarinet.
“… it’s all music”
There’s something effortless in the way she describes it. But that effortlessness is an illusion. Her ability to switch between instruments wasn’t built through conscious effort alone. It developed in the background—through play, practice, exposure.
This reminds me of another of Bateson’s new words: Aphanipoiesis—the unseen processes that lead to change. In organizations, we tend to focus on the visible: strategies, KPIs, training programs. But the most profound shifts often happen beneath the surface.
- The casual conversations that build trust
- The quiet moments where someone connects the dots between two ideas
- The way a team intuitively adjusts to challenges without a formal process
- The gradual disappearance of old patterns, letting go of preconceived notions, embracing new possibilities (See Reflections on Letting Go: Enabling Adaptive Organizations)
We can’t always see learning happen, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there.
The Symphony of Change
Leaders often ask, “How can I teach/train my team in _____?”
For organizations, real transformation doesn’t come from implementing new processes or tools in isolation. So maybe better questions as you practice the art of gentle leadership are:
- How are you tuning your ears to the unheard harmonies shaping your team’s growth?
- What instruments of change do you play fluently, and which ones might you need to practice more?
- How are you creating space for team members to find their rhythm, improvise together, and compose innovative solutions?
- What discordant notes in your organization might actually be pointing toward a new, more complex harmony?
- How might you orchestrate an environment where different talents aren’t just recognized but blend together into something greater than the sum of individual virtuosity?
Hearing the Unheard Melodies
Everyone you interact with possesses unique abilities, perspectives, and experiences. There are so many ways to bring those talents to the surface, to share the far too often unspoken expertise within teams.
If you’re interested, here’s a handful of instruments you might add to your orchestra:
- Personal Maps: a visual representation of the attributes, relationships, and experiences that make me me, and you you. So that “us-two” might collaborate more effectively
- Kantor Four Player Model: a way to help folks recognize each other’s communication styles and adapt accordingly
- Curiosity Based Inquiry: to build open communication channels, filled with trust and collaboration
- Team Safety Check: foster an environment where team members feel safe to take risks, share their ideas, to say out loud “I’m tone deaf” as well as challenge the status quo
- Team Dynamics and Conflict: What might sound off key to you, might actually be music to others! Explore patterns, tools, and practices for cultivating environments where both harmonious flow and healthy conflict can thrive
The Coda
Sophie’s closing words in that remembered conversation were simple: “Hey, let’s go get some ice cream.”
No fanfare. No need to analyze what had just happened. She was on to the next thing.
And perhaps that’s how real growth happens. Slowly. Invisibly.
In these moments of genuine learning:
- Different perspectives harmonize
- Patterns are recognized across contexts
- Learning flows naturally between different domains
- Understanding emerges through demonstration and experience
Then one day, someone sings the lyrics of one song over another, and suddenly, you hear the harmony that was always there.
