Skip to main content

The Burning Platform

Sensitive Topic: Suicide

Daryl Conner describes a motivational pattern that successful change leaders have used to inspire and sustain change. This pattern he called the burning platform. A leader creates a burning platform when they show their followers how the cost of maintaining the way things have been would be far more dangerous than implementing the suggested change (Replymc, 2010a). Conner goes further to describe that the burning platform should be used judiciously, and based on a personal emotional connection. This goes beyond the logic that change must happen because it is directed by leadership. The burning platform creates urgency around a situation and consequences for not changing that are unpleasant and perhaps scary (Replymc, 2010b). This metaphor inspired by dramatic and tragic events provides a very real illustration of a circumstance where emotion and logic meet to create the desired outcome. Reflecting on the burning platform and how I may have used it in my life to inspire change I do believe I have done so and used the technique judiciously as suggested by Daryl Conner (Replymc, 2010b). 
"When people believe the price for the status quo is dramatically higher than the cost of the transition, they’ll actually sustain it" 
(Replymc, 2010).
In my time as a crisis counselor, I answered calls for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. These were often difficult calls to take as callers were usually deep within their crisis reaching out for help when they have nowhere else to turn. A technique that we used when a caller described that they wanted to kill themselves involved going through the steps, in detail of the process. We asked the caller to consider what would happen if they were unsuccessful with their attempt. I won’t go into detail here, but in training and on the phone we would not spare the graphic detail and descriptions of pain, suffering, and permanent bodily harm. While these discussions were uncomfortable, that was the point. This did not happen often and would only be the course of conversation if the caller were extremely high risk and had a plan and intended to take action on it. Usually, at some point in the conversation, the caller would realize that this wasn’t the path they wanted and we would speak about the good things in their life and how they might heal.

In this case, suicide was the burning platform. We helped the caller see that the path they were on could potentially be more uncomfortable and painful than the alternative of seeking help and healing. The intended impact was that of a deeply personal emotional reaction that illuminated the clear correct course of action.

Image from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsi-r/5430344580

As always, when I write about suicide I include the contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the phone number. If you or anyone you know is thinking about hurting themselves, don’t hesitate to reach out. There are empathetic trained professionals waiting to listen and help. 1-800-273-8255



References

Replymc. (2010a). Burning platform - The misunderstanding (part 1/2). Youtube. https://youtu.be/KwRB0sHpN9E

Replymc. (2010b). Burning platform - The misunderstanding (part 2/2). Youtube. https://youtu.be/vBLJNMrBBS4


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How I found the Standards in my Life

I had standards by which I lived my life before I could explicitly identify them. I found that not every choice I made brought me closer to the person I wanted to be. I make decisions every day that bring me joy, sadness, fulfillment, and yearning for more. In an effort to understand how I make these decisions, and to be more intentional, I recently started a journey to reflect on my own core values. I have made many moves in my life and I wanted to better understand how I can make decisions that align with my core values. To facilitate this introspection I asked myself the questions below. In reflecting on these questions I found patterns. Patterns of behaviors and ways of being that helped me understand how I have lived in and out of alignment with my core values. Now that I am aware of them, and have them written out, these are my standards for decision making. These are the ways of being that help ensure I am living the life I want to live. Questions I asked myself What am I doing ...
Post a Comment
Read more

My Role(s) in a Team

Teamwork is a common thread throughout life. Growing up with parents and a sibling, working at my first job at McDonald's, and my marriage and current household all provide me with an opportunity to practice teamwork. Most, if not all, of the engagements in my life involve interacting and cooperating with others, so this exploration into how teams form and are led is an interesting practice of reviewing literature and reflecting on how I engage in my day-to-date life. As a part of a team, I tend to take leadership roles quite naturally. Whetten & Cameron (2011) describe several roles of embers within a team: task-facilitating, relationship-building, and blocking roles. I believe that I have played each role at some point. I feel most at home when I play a task-facilitation role, but I also make time and space for relationship-building. Teamwork is all about getting individual contributors to work together toward a common goal, so ensuring that the relationships among team membe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Constraints on Creative Problem Solving

Creative problem-solving requires a great deal of flexibility, and acceptance of risk which can be difficult for businesses who are generally risk averse to embrace. Many constraints also exist in our individual thinking which limit our capacity to think and problem-solve creatively (Whetten & Cameron, 2016). In my own experience in the nonprofit and social service industries I have seen these constraints hold back otherwise successful individuals.  “Well, this is how we’ve always done it” I’m sure you’ve heard this common refrain from supervisors and teammates in the past. Generally, we hear this when someone questions an existing policy, procedure, or process. The inquiry is not personal, but this knee-jerk response is a clear indicator that the individuals are experiencing some conceptual blocks to creative problem solving. Complacency is a major impediment to thinking differently, in fact, complacency may mean that the people in question are not thinking at all. When we avo...
Post a Comment
Read more