How being a jester can help you lead change

November 12, 9:47 AMLeading Change ExaminerWendy Mack

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Being considered a clown at work is usually not a good thing.  On the other hand, your organization can benefit considerably if you take on the role of a jester. 

What is a jester?  According to Dave Riveness, the founder and CEO of Corporate Jester and author of The Secret Life of the Corporate Jester: A Fresh Perspective on Organizational Leadership, Culture and Behavior, a jester is someone with the will and skill to point out blind spots and speak "truth to power."  Riveness writes about the critical role that jesters have played in kingdoms and courts for centuries, starting with the Ming Dynasty in 1358:

Hung-wu became emperor of China in 1368 and founded the Ming dynasty, which ruled for nearly 300 years. Soon after becoming emperor, Hung-wu began to centralize power back into the imperial government under his direct control. Very quickly he discovered the daily mountain of work proved too much for one man to handle, even for an emperor. In response, he created a large team of advisors designed to consistently gather vast amounts of information, synthesize it, and then report it back to him in condensed versions to be used in his deliberations. As these advisory bodies became commonplace, and even began to be used as templates by leaders in lesser courts, something unintended started to occur. Few of these advisors challenged accepted wisdom, questioned the status quo, or voiced concerns out of fear of displeasing or contradicting the leadership. Advisors frequently chose to keep opinions, facts, and perspectives to themselves, even when speaking up might have greatly influenced the leader's understanding. As a result of these increasing gaps in information and perspective, Hung-wu and other Chinese leaders began making faulty decisions and took actions they later regretted.

At some point Chinese leaders realized the risk they were taking by surrounding themselves with those who supplied no true advice, reflecting only the leader's own opinions. Just as this need for a "teller of truth" was becoming evident, the traditional clowns that had entertained the court started to use their position to subtly comment more directly on the affairs of the day. Jesters, free from the restraints and fears other advisors felt, often expressed thoughts no others would voice, thereby opening up new perspectives, insights, ideas, and options to the leader. Leaders even began to ponder new ways of thinking that may have been at odds with their own initial perspectives and assumptions.

Riveness make a compelling case for the need for modern day corporate jesters.  According to Riveness, corporate jesters possess two main skills:

1. The first is the ability to perceive blind spots in thinking and action.
2. The second ability of a jester, and perhaps the more difficult aspect of jestership, is a highly developed skill at passing insights on to others in a way that doesn't feel challenging, humiliating, or unsupportive.

To me, these same skills are crucial for leading change.  As Gary Hamel wrote in The Quest for Resilience, "To be resilient, and organization must dramatically reduce the time it takes to go from 'that can't be true' to 'we must face the world as it is.'" Often a change leader is the first to recognize that the world has shifted.  Getting others to come to the same conclusion is not easy.  Utilizing the jestership skills of humor and storytelling is critical - as is encouraging others in the organization to do the same.   

For an introduction to jestership, read Dave's article Bring In The Jester: Encouraging Open Interaction in the Workplace or check out his book, The Secret Life of the Corporate Jester.