complexity based leadership: navigating complex challenges

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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

mailto:[email protected]



www.ideacreation.org 2

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Chris Jansen

www.ideacreation.org

Overview

• a road map for leading change

• focus on adaptive challenges

• re-designing hierarchies

• strategies for engaging collective

intelligence

• organisational change processes

4 www.ideacreation.org

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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

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“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)

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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?


A road map for leading change

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‟

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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


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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 Snowden www.ideacreation.org

Adaptive challenges

Technical problems

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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


Machine Living organism

Hybrid?

+Efficient, reliable,

+innovative, responsive, nimble

-Inflexible, slow to respond

-messy and spontaneous


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Leaders vs leadership? Position of a leader vs action of leadership

Hierarchies and Networks


The Starfish and the Spider…

The unstoppable power of leaderless organisations

Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom


“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)


Culture eats strategy for lunch…

…and structure creates culture

Foster interaction, shared learning, and leverage collective intelligence


What solution?

How to engage?

+ Ownership, motivation and commitment

++ Better solutions and innovation

Two key questions in adaptive change

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


Technical change (linear)

Ministry of Social Development

Need and vision

Adopt proven ideas

Train

Roll out Scale up

Fine-tune and embed Pre-planned

and predictable steps

Proven solution


Need and vision

Launch multiple experiments

Assess responses and fine-tune

Scale up

Pilot

AI… Foster collective intelligence

Adaptive change (cyclic)


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Technical challenges

=

Linear change processes


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


Who has a voice in our organisation?

What mechanisms can we create to foster interaction and shared learning?


Keeping in contact….

[email protected]


www.leadershiplab.co.nz



http://www.ideacreation.org/

http://www.leadershiplab.co.nz/

complexity based leadership: navigating complex challenges

Leadership & Management