Levers, Wedges, and Catalysts

It seems that Archimedes was kind of crazy and unpredictable. It is said that he had times of running naked through the streets. Whether that is true or not is uncertain. Thankfully, streaking is not what he is most remembered for. As a creative mathematician, physicist, and engineer, he had innumerable inventions, including claws to sink ships, irrigation systems, and complex pulley systems. Archimedes declared, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” Whether stated as hyperbole or a genuine confidence in the physics, he believed in the lever's power.

Then, there is the more respectable, quiet yet determined Madame Marie Curie. She levered and wedged her way into a “men-only” world of science as a catalyst, winning two Nobel Prizes for her work in physics (with her husband Pierre) and chemistry (on her own). She and her husband discovered the use of radium to fight tumors. Also among Marie Curie’s developments was a radiological car used during WWI by battlefield surgeons for x-rays in the field.[i]

Even though Archimedes and Marie Curie eventually created solutions to human needs and problems, they were the cause from the beginning. They were the levers, wedges, and catalysts that led to the levers, wedges, and catalysts they created. Their human presence, skill, and curiosity worked with what was around them to create what had never existed. It has been said that “Marie Curie was never easy to understand or categorize. That was because she was a pioneer, an outlier, unique for the newness and immensity of her achievements.”[ii]

If you look at the same stuff over and over again, you might cease to see new things. What makes the difference is HOW we look at those things. We keep looking through different kinds of lenses and using different metaphors to cause us to see and think differently. There can be a desire to look deeper, to walk and talk longer to gain access, and to create movement before we even get to cultivating a movement.

A quick note about movement: perpetual movement does not equal progress. Busy doesn’t necessarily change anything. You can be Newton’s Cradle, bounce back and forth, and go nowhere. Consider the “Is there true progress?” question as you continue reading.

In this blog post, we look with eyes to see anew and consider metaphors from physics and chemistry for creating movement and progress. As you venture into these ideas, understand that the core issue is based first on attitude before approach. Attitude determines approach and, often, the success of finding something new and usable.[iii] 

Levers
Archimedes’ declaration about the lever “moving the world” was hyperbole, but it makes the point. Levers extend your strength beyond normal to potentially do the exceptional. When was the last time you thought about your work accomplishing the exceptional?

Levers are used to help move a heavy or firmly fixed load. They lead to leverage, taking what you have and multiplying its strength and effects. This leads to the questions of what those strengths are and what are the effects they produce. The placement of the lever determines effects. What are you trying to move? Will the placement of the lever move that goal, or is it misplaced?

You see, these are evaluation questions. Things often do not move in our world because we don’t ask hard questions. Questions are levers. Here are some lever questions. How close have you come to solving the problem you seek to eliminate or at least reduce? Who else is trying to solve the same problem? When was the last time you talked? How are you working together to gain progress versus competing for the same turf, donors, and dollars?

What turns a stick into a lever is the fulcrum. Without a fulcrum, you are just carrying a big stick, which doesn’t always come across well. I experience this in various meetings all the time. FYI, politics doesn’t just happen in the HOA, city hall, county council, state capital, or DC. It is all over our communities, including the non-profit service world. Let’s turn our sticks into levers.

The placement of the fulcrum matters. Sometimes, we can be too close to the issue or too far away to find the needed leverage. Finding our issue is one checkbox; discerning the leverage points is another. Too close to the problem, and all you see is the problem. Too far away, and you lose sight of the real problem. Where the fulcrum is best placed can be a matter of trial and error. That’s okay. Keep paying attention with the explicit intention of finding the best leverage point for creating movement.

What is the fulcrum? It can be a crisis that leads to focus, a new strategy, new leadership, someone’s voice and vision that has been quiet on the side, or as simple as two people who find they have a shared hope and vision who start working together, not leaving things at talking about what could be. Sit patiently and ask yourself, “Who or what can help things shift at least a little?” Is it you? By the way, a slight shift of a boulder can reveal some things underneath, including a hidden access point.

How much pressure you put on your end can matter. For a lever to work, it necessitates pressure beyond the counter-pressure of the object. There has to be enough pressure to get movement, but not too much to where you break the lever or send who or what you are trying to move into orbit! Also, ensure that you don’t lose it once you make some progress.

Wedges
At first consideration, the idea of a wedge to help create helpful movement might be confusing. Without enumerating the uses that can be unhelpful, let’s consider the opportunities a wedge can afford.

All it takes is a slight opening to wedge a door open. Now, you don’t have to work as hard to get it started or maintain progress. You can combine lever work with wedge work. The wedge can help maintain progress by saving your place or keeping things from rolling back to where they were. This wedge might be an ongoing conversation about various problems to solve where the up-front value is the relationships of trust being developed, creating further leverage points.

Also, hear that phrase emphasizing “your”—saving YOUR place. That means you have a place there, even if everyone, including you, has no idea what it is at this point. Now that you are in let the focus be on relationships. Stay in it. Converse well. Listen well. Information is powerful.

Sometimes you need to catch-wind of enough information to help understand why you are encountering resistance to a vision. You keep the door open just enough for that wind to make it through and inform you of what it will take to open that door wider so you can step through into a different kind of conversation stimulation. It’s time to get some things moving beyond tossing the problem and a few solution ideas around.

Your presence might be a “wedge presence” because you hold the door open on specific issues that should not be ignored. That issue continues to be discussed because you are there and open your mouth, reminding everyone present of those issues along the way. Eventually, you want to be more than a highlighter or a bookmark. But the power of getting people to return to the same place for a while is that the light might finally come on for at least one more person. That additional person can be all it takes for the desired progress to begin.

Catalysts
Have you ever been in regular meetings and gatherings where it feels like not much changes? Has holding your place turned into an eternal holding pattern? When you long for growth and positive change, the feeling of stagnancy can make you want to run. What do you do? Don’t run away! Stay and be a catalyst.

A catalyst brings stimulus to an event and increases rates. It lowers the temperature and pressure needed to start a reaction. When a catalyst is added, things happen. In your community’s formula for getting better, is there a catalyst? Who is it? Is it you? Have you moved from the lever and wedge role to a catalytic role?

Being a catalyst is more than having an excellent idea. You have to start fostering and bringing the details; otherwise, the reaction might end, and you’ll have to start over again. You team up with others and keep showing up with the necessary elements to keep the reaction going for the desired products and by-products to happen. The problem you all want to be solved gets solved.

To find these details, you need conversations and undisturbed sit time. I have written two other blogs that unpack a lot more help here. Links are in the endnotes.[iv] Time allows for some framing and reframing to happen. Take notes in a journal to capture thoughts and designs along the way. Don’t lose anything. What doesn’t make total sense now might be the lynchpin later.

Sometimes, the temperature and pressure around an issue are what have it stuck. Some people believe that hot tempers and high pressure lead to positive change. I’m not so sure. Look at the formula. Is the problem element a person and their attitude? Is it the delivery of the message? Is it the words being used? Are there differing visions that can’t coexist?

As this catalytic presence, you or your organization’s work doesn’t necessarily need to change, although that may be an issue. The aim is that you catalyze the conversations that lead to collaboration and change.

Beyond your organization, does your presence change things? Part of this is you realize the value of you. I’m not talking about arrogance. Arrogance is ultimately cannibalizing, not catalyzing. What do you have to add to the formula?

Sometimes, a community needs an outside catalyst to help get things moving. You don’t want them taking over, but they can get everyone seeing, thinking, and talking differently, maybe about some different content. This catalyst can be a one-time speaker or a facilitator for a few days to move your group or community forward.

Being a catalyst can take courage and persistence. Organizations and communities don’t always like their formula being changed. But do they like what that unchanged formula produces? Are they discontent enough with current results to at least be willing to talk about additions to the formula, if not a total rework?

In all of the above, there is the risk of overdoing or going too far to get something or someone moving. Enter these roles aware and with an attitude that desires success. Check your internal temperature. If you feel hot, step back, cool down, and take a breather before you move into the lever/wedge/catalyst role.

One last note. Maybe a little crazy and unpredictable is what it takes to create the things that make the world a better place. Let’s get moving.

An Addendum
If you believe in prayer, it can be understood as a wedge, a lever, and a catalyst. What are you praying for your community? Are you having gatherings for prayer? If prayer is part of your community strategy, I would love to hear from you and learn what you are doing. Please email me your story.

Action Points

• “I don’t have time.” Okay, what do you need to stop doing that is getting you and your vision nowhere so that you can start investing in thinking, conversations, and actions that will get you moving and making progress?
  
  
• Where have you been trying to gain entry with no success? What “lever” could you use to help you achieve at least enough access to place a wedge in and hold the door open a little? Who could invite you? Do you need an invitation, or can you start showing up?
  
  
• Is there actual progress brought about by your movement? Name it and describe it…with honesty.
  
  
• What new ideas could you add to old, stale conversations, meetings, and gatherings?
  
  
• Join other spaces and conversations that provide a lever/wedge/catalyst atmosphere. There are a couple of newer options to consider. Collective Community Impact is a free membership space that provides video training, reading content, and a discussion forum. I also lead a monthly live Zoom Collaboration Forum. Those details are provided in the Collective Community Impact forum.
  
  
• Subscribe to and read this blog on a regular basis to create movement in yourself and catalyze others who need to cease being sedentary.

[i] https://www.nobelprize.org/womenwhochangedscience/stories/marie-curie

[ii] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/madame-curies-passion-74183598/

[iii] https://www.charitytracker.com/en/blog/attitudinal-current

[iv] https://www.charitytracker.com/en/blog/what-you-see-the-problem; https://www.charitytracker.com/en/blog/what-you-see-part-2-the-solution

Do you desire to strengthen your CharityTracker or OasisInsight network to new levels of collaboration and impact? Reach out to Chuck today to schedule your conversation: chuck@simonsolutions.com. 

Dr. Chuck Coward serves as Community Impact Specialist for Simon Solutions, Inc. Chuck has invested over 35 years in fostering human and community development from a variety of places and roles, including as a pastor, non-profit Executive Director, Director of Development, businessman, consultant, university professor, The Struggle Coach, and the founder of Entrusted Foundation. Serving to make people and communities stronger is his great passion. Chuck is the proud husband to Anita, dad to four, and granddaddy to eight.