Complexity based leadership: Navigating complex challenges
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This document discusses complexity-based leadership and navigating adaptive challenges. It provides an overview of complexity thinking and adaptive leadership. It discusses that adaptive challenges require generating and trialing multiple solutions as they are embedded in social complexity, compared to technical problems which can be solved with existing knowledge. It also discusses fostering collective intelligence through mechanisms like cross-functional teams to engage stakeholders and generate better solutions. Finally, it discusses that adaptive change processes are cyclic with multiple experiments compared to linear change processes for technical challenges.
Complexity based leadership: Navigating complex challenges
- 1. 1 INTASE Leadership Conference Singapore 2014 Chris Jansen – University of Canterbury, New Zealand www.leadershiplab.co.nz www.ideacreation.org Complexity based leadership: navigating adaptive challenges
- 4. Overview • a road map for leading change • focus on adaptive challenges • re-designing hierarchies • strategies for engaging collective intelligence • organisational change processes 4www.ideacreation.org
- 5. 5 Speed Complexity Uncertainty Ambiguity Opportunities Paradox Unintended consequences Lack of Control change is changing….. Information overload Interconnectedness of systems Dissolving of traditional organisational boundaries Disruptive technologies Generational values and expectations Increased globalization
- 6. 6 “The greatest challenge for future leaders is the pace of change and the complexity of the challenges faced….” ….”perpetual white-water”… “Our organisations are not equipped to cope with this complexity…” (IBM study – 1500 CEO’s)
- 7. 7 BAU New BAU Context Shifting Context Shifting Context 70-80% failure Positive and sustainable change? Why? Threat? Opportunity? Where? …are we heading to? Who?...do we collaborate with? How?…do we design our journey? What?…steps do we take? www.ideacreation.org A road map for leading change
- 8. Technical challenges “can be solved with knowledge and procedures already at hand” Adaptive challenges “embedded in social complexity, require behaviour change and are rife with unintended consequences‟ 8 Requires leader to identify priorities, project manage and ensure stakeholder engagement Requires leader to do all of the above and generate and trial multiple solutions www.ideacreation.org
- 9. 9 Simple, predictable cause and effect interactions Multiple predictable cause and effect interactions Multiple connected but unpredictable interactions Multiple disconnected interactions Complex Complicated Chaotic Simple Cynefin Framework Decisions are obvious Decisions require expert knowledge Decisions are uncertain and solutions only apparent in retrospect Decisions need to be made quickly to dampen energy Dave Snowdenwww.ideacreation.org Adaptive challenges Technical problems
- 13. 13 How does self organisation work? • independent agents • interactions with neighbours • decentralised control • an attractor - motivated by threat or opportunity Self organisation leading to emergence Complexity thinking, complex adaptive systems, adaptive leadership www.ideacreation.org
- 14. Machine Living organism Hybrid? +Efficient, reliable, +innovative, responsive, nimble -Inflexible, slow to respond -messy and spontaneous 14www.ideacreation.org
- 15. . . . Leaders vs leadership? Position of a leader vs action of leadership Hierarchies and Networks www.ideacreation.org 15
- 16. The Starfish and the Spider… The unstoppable power of leaderless organisations Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom 16www.ideacreation.org
- 17. “It is no longer sufficient to have one person learning for the organisation... Its just not possible any longer to figure it out from the top, and have everyone else following the order of the ‘grand strategist’. (Senge , 2002) 17www.ideacreation.org
- 18. Culture eats strategy for lunch… …and structure creates culture
- 19. Foster interaction, shared learning, and leverage collective intelligence 19www.ideacreation.org What solution? How to engage? + Ownership, motivation and commitment ++ Better solutions and innovation Two key questions in adaptive change
- 20. Strategies for enabling collective intelligence… Principles: - fostering interaction and shared learning - diversity and choice to contribute Possible mechanisms: - cross functional teams - focus groups (vertical teams) - interdisciplinary teams - collaborative processes – Appreciative Inquiry, world café, open space… - think tanks – open invitation, open agenda - Agile methodologies – scrum etc - innovation portal (ie you I portal) - regular staff and student surveys - accelerate teams - volunteer army 20www.ideacreation.org
- 22. Technical change (linear) Need and vision Adopt proven ideas Train Roll out Scale up Fine-tune and embed Pre-planned and predictable steps Proven solution www.ideacreation.org 22
- 23. Need and vision Launch multiple experiments Assess responses and fine-tune Scale up Pilot AI…Foster collective intelligence Adaptive change (cyclic) www.ideacreation.org 23
- 26. Organisational change processes 1. establish urgency based on provable need/gap 2. form a powerful coalition or core team 3. develop a vision and operation plan 4. launch numerous small ’safe to fail’ pilots 5. communicate the vision and develop whole school approach 6. consolidate improvements by building capacity 7. widen awareness and support 8. celebrate and embed Based on Kotter 26www.ideacreation.org
- 27. Who has a voice in our organisation? What mechanisms can we create to foster interaction and shared learning? 27www.ideacreation.org