Greetings from Brandon, Manitoba. I’m working with a credit union here, and at some level, it is kind of like coming home! Good people, provocative questions and trying to make a difference in the lives of people and communities. Just the kind place I love!

Last week was also a homecoming; the Connecting4Community Conference in Cincinnati. It was a great conference, and of course, catching up with my ‘tribe’ was a highlight. It was great to connect with old friends, renew and forge new friendships. And, there was an interruption; a shift occurred in the midst of the conference that had a deep and profound effect on a number of people. Ironically, Walter Brueggemann, one of the invited speakers had just finished a fascinating exploration of the importance of interruptions and disruptions for the health of leaders, communities and organizations. The instant interruption had to do with the process and the pedagogy we were using. As important as the content of the interruption was, the fact that it happened, and in the way that it happened was what struck me. You see, I was triggered. I became very angry. As much as I was concerned about the impact the interruption on friends, I was also hurt and angry myself. And I knew enough to do some soul searching; to explore the trigger and my response. I realized for example that in my family of origin interruptions were considered very, very rude. My father would have been appalled at what happened. And so somewhere in the complex of my reaction was that part of me that is my father. I was left with the question; did I want to be my father, or did I want to be me?

Now before we go too deeply into pop psychology, a very dangerous tack on any day, I hold up what Dr. Brueggeman had been talking about; the importance of interruptions. And I realized that while I might have intellectually agreed with him, at a very deep level, I didn’t like interruptions in my happy little world! I’ve since been wondering about the balance in leadership between (a) the importance of momentum, commitment, making a choice and sticking with it, forging ahead through difficult terrain, and (b) the importance of hearing opposing voices, making adjustments or even changing course based on new data, the dangers of complacency and out-dated paradigms. I recall a story from my father’s working life that describes this to a tee. He worked for Air Canada for some 35 years. And in the late 60’s or early 70’s he was talking to an old family friend who did some traveling in the US. (I remember sitting in the room listening to this fascinating exchange between these two adults) An American air carrier had just recently introduced movies on their transcontinental flights and this family friend was very excited about this new technology. My Dad said something like “we have thought about this, but our belief is that what people really want is good food and good service, so we won’t be introducing movies on our airplanes.” The balance between momentum, commitment and forging ahead and hearing opposing voices, and changing out-dated paradigms. It is clearly interruptions that move us forward, that introduce new and challenging thinking into the mix, and that disrupt our happy little world. I should also note that my Dad was instrumental in preventing Air Canada from purchasing Super Sonic Transports (SSTs) like the Concorde, because of a number of factors including the environment. So obviously standing your ground can be the right choice. The important thing is to engage with the interruption, not to dismiss it out of hand, not to simply sit in your happy little world.

And I for one know how difficult that can be. May each of us be interrupted this week.