On Culture: Building Bridges in a BANI World

Myste Wylde
Nov 7, 2024
5 min read

Dear Culturati Insider,

At 2 AM yesterday, my mom texted the family thread that she was "on her knees thanking God" for Trump's impending victory. I didn't tell her that I was on my knees, too, spitting my frustration and despair into the toilet, a futile attempt to dislodge the bitter, burning disappointment in my gut. I washed my face and retreated back to bed, typing out, "Congrats on the election. Genuinely glad for the peace and happiness it brings you." Heart emoji.

And I mean it.

My parents and siblings are firmly entrenched in the Pineywoods of East Texas, deep roots in red soil. They are good, salt-of-the-earth type folks. They volunteer at their local church, make shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse, and enjoy ice cream cones from 'the Dairy Queen.' And while I personally do not understand their political leanings, I do understand that I don't need to. I love them anyway. I respect and admire all of the honest, generous, and kind parts of them and realize that judging our differences is antithetical to my core values.

So, if 'your side' won yesterday, a sincere congratulations. And if you are feeling the loss, you are not alone. To all, I remind you of our shared humanity and our individual responsibility to build bridges where needed...particularly in the workplace. Election-related stress doesn't stay outside the office; it seeps into our teams, impacting already burned-out managers on the front lines. We can empower them by providing tools to hold tough conversations, setting clear expectations, and focusing on those most affected. We're all navigating these liminal times, challenging us, but also offering us a chance to reaffirm our principles and lead with clarity and purpose.

In that vein, we see how the constant change ubiquitous today is remaking traditional leadership methods into more adaptive, agile, and inclusive models. Leaders now act as facilitators, harnessing team insights and involving more cross-functional representation in planning cycles and pivots. As Culturati Steering Committee member Brooke Weddle points out, HR professionals are already under duress from ongoing disruptions. They can be better supported by involving them early on in decision-making, transforming them into strategic partners and rebuilding trust. In this BANI world—only comprehensive, holistic change will enable organizations to flourish amid complexity and the unknown.

Let's rise to the challenge together.

To building bridges,

Myste Wylde, COO

3 Tips for Handling Election Emotions in the Workplace

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By Kathryn Moody

Summary: Election-related stress is impacting employees nationwide, especially already burned-out managers who are on the front lines of workplace tensions. To navigate this, companies can implement three key strategies: provide managers with scripts to empathetically engage employees without pushing conversations; set clear expectations and boundaries to prevent political conflicts while ensuring managers have support channels like EAPs and ERGs; and focus support on groups most affected by election outcomes, acknowledging that productivity may dip during this period. By fostering open dialogue and preparing managers for hard conversations, organizations can maintain a healthy work environment amid heightened emotions.

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How to Lead When the Future Feels Unpredictable

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By Laura Empson and Jennifer Howard-Grenville

Summary: "Liminal experiences," or transitional periods where familiar structures are disrupted without clear replacements, are increasingly a part of leadership today. To stay effective, leaders can reaffirm core values to understand what truly matters; introspect to clarify where your organization stands, providing confidence and purpose; and proactively plan how to move ahead, viewing uncertainty as an opportunity for growth. Emphasize fundamentals by stepping back to reassess goals, strengthening team cohesion, and steadfastly adhering to your mission. By embracing these periods as chances to reflect and reorient, executives can guide their organizations confidently through unpredictability, leveraging collective resilience just as we did during the pandemic.

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By Rachel Cooke

Summary: With constant change rendering traditional leadership methods obsolete, organizations are adopting a new playbook emphasizing agility and inclusivity. Change is no longer a singular event but a continuous process that requires leaders to shift from being sole experts to facilitators who harness team insights. A focus on clarity and accountability and involving teams in agile planning cycles allows for pivots as new information emerges. This four-part framework can help. 1) Plays: making sense of the moving parts by contextualizing internal and external factors. 2) Plan: building in short, agile cycles with team involvement. 3) People: Equipping and nourishing teams to foster resilience. 4) Pulse: monitoring progress in real-time, allowing for course corrections. By embracing this approach, organizations can strategically manage the chaos of constant change.

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Why Being in HR is Getting Tougher—and How to Break Through

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By Brooke Weddle, Bryan Hancock, Wendy Miller, and Lucia Rahilly

Summary: HR professionals are enduring unmitigated stress due to serial disruptions like the pandemic, the Great Resignation, remote work transitions, and geopolitical challenges, leading to change fatigue, burnout, and low morale within the function. Caught between caring for employees and fulfilling organizational demands, HR is experiencing increased friction, especially as trust and engagement reach all-time lows. To alleviate this, leaders can involve HR earlier in the decision-making process, giving them a seat at the table to proactively shape policies and navigate change. Leveraging technology and AI can automate administrative tasks, enabling HR to focus on strategic initiatives and rebuild trust. By reframing HR from executors to strategic partners, organizations can enhance morale, improve organizational health, and better support employees through ongoing challenges.

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Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, and Incomprehensible: Welcome to the ‘BANI’ World

Fortune

By Raj. L Gupta, Lisa B. Woods, and Mukul Pandya

Summary: Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, and Incomprehensible— the BANI world is the paradigm replacing VUCA amid accelerated change, global interconnectedness, and intensified emotional impact. Tupperware's rapid decline exemplifies how businesses crumble when they fail to adapt, while AMD's resurgence under CEO Lisa Su showcases strategic agility and AI leverage against competitors. Success now demands a complete transformation: boards must embrace diverse thinking, continuous learning, and proactive strategy; CEOs need adaptive leadership, tech fluency, and stakeholder management; C-suites require cross-functional collaboration, rapid experimentation, and data-driven decisions; AI integration must be strategic; and performance metrics should focus on long-term value and stakeholder impact. In the BANI world, only comprehensive, holistic change—not incremental adjustments—will enable organizations to thrive amid complexity and uncertainty.

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