When was the last time you were surprised? Perhaps God or a friend showed up in an unexpected way, a conversation took a surprising turn, or a decision had unintended consequences.

For the most part, we tend not to like surprises, but for network leaders they can be invaluable!

The familiar story of Moses and the Burning Bush is among other things a story about surprise and how we show up to these events.

In Exodus, we meet Moses who is living the solitary life of a shepherd when suddenly he sees a bush burning in the distance. Nothing else is on fire, there’s no obvious reason for the fire, and it isn’t going out.

We can imagine him musing, “hmmm…that’s odd. I’d better check this out.”

To his utter astonishment, a simple “burning bush” became a profound encounter with the God of the universe. Then, this same God recruited him to be His messenger to Pharaoh, to free an enslaved people, and to lead Israel into a covenant relationship with God. I doubt this was on his morning “To Do” list or one of his goals for the year.

Like Moses, we generally don’t like surprises. We like the predictable, the controllable, and the planned. We want things to work smoothly and according to plan. We create structures and processes to help us become more efficient, and eliminate error In short, we try to “manage” surprises out of our processes and plans.

The reality for network and partnership leaders, however, is that we don’t work in a simple, predictable space.

• We live in the world of huge challenges and intractable problems that can only be addressed by working together.
• We work with networks of passionate volunteers who come from different ministries and organizations, from different backgrounds and cultures, and maybe even different denominations.
• We are often separated by time zones, thousands of miles, and different languages.

And then there is the God of Surprises that Moses knew.

He shows up over coffee in your morning prayers or scripture. He has a meeting setup that isn’t on your schedule. He adds an unexpected topic to your network meeting agenda. Your well-planned project or program is not working the way it should. Or, perhaps God just shows up and does a “God-thing” in a way only God can do.

In short, surprises are inevitable and we had better learn to make the most of them.

Expect the Unexpected

Peer- to-peer networks by nature intensify the exchange of ideas, facilitate the formation of relationships, and encourage knowledge sharing. This creates a fertile ground for collaboration, learning, and partnership. It also increases the likelihood of surprises.

They know that surprises and dealing with the unexpected is an inevitable part of their role. This is why effective network leaders learn to watch for and embrace the unexpected rather than fear or ignore it.

They do this by:

• Being curious and asking lots of questions
• Building trusted relationships
• Connecting people who are both in and outside of the network
• Creating a culture of exchange and learning
• Encouraging open communication, and
• Working to increase their network’s comfort-level with ambiguity, change and uncertainty.

Pay Attention to What Surprises You

Surprises by nature are events, information, or situations that differ from our expectations. They tell us that our assumptions, beliefs, or knowledge, of a situation may be incomplete or that something is changing. They are like road signs indicating a steep hill or sharp curve ahead.

Paying attention when something surprises us can pay huge dividends, especially in a complex, rapidly changing environment. Moses could have ignored the bush and gone on his way. But instead, he became curious and went over to take a look at this surprising bush. The encounter changed his life and ministry.

This is why network leaders try to pay attention to their sense of surprise. The bigger their sense of surprise, they more they know to ask questions and approach with curiosity. Similarly, small surprises are worthy of notice as they can be early indicators of an emerging issue.

A helpful practice is to assume the unexpected situation contains something of value and ask:

• What was surprising about the situation?
• Why did it surprise me?
• What information am I missing?
• What insights can I glean?

To strengthen your network’s capacity to respond to change and the unexpected, a useful practice is to regularly set aside time as a team or network to consider:

• What has surprised us about X?
• What might we be avoiding or overlooking about X?
• What makes us concerned or curious about X?
• What if anything has changed about X?
• How might we know something about X is not working?

These questions can be sprinkled into 1:1 or small group conversations or included in a quarterly network planning meeting. They can also be the source of tremendous learning when asked at an annual consultation.

While not always pleasant, surprises contain a wealth of information and knowledge if we learn to embrace, expect and pay attention to them.