I think that I am finally getting the hang of the
theory of leadership in a complex adaptive organization! Notice that I said theory and not practice. It may take quite some time to learn how to apply
everything. When we have been doing something for so long that it has become
second nature, it takes quite a while to change it. We were asked to conduct an
exercise for this blog that really would have given me a good opportunity to apply
what I have learned in a practical manner but, alas, the resources just were
not available but I can imagine what it would have been like.
For this exercise, imagine that you have a group of
about 20 people. Obolesky (2014) gives this exercise as tool for leaders to
open their minds as to how complex systems can work in chaos. For this to work,
you really need a minimum of 8 people but the group that I could easily wrangle
me in to helping would have been my work crew. Unfortunately, I never seem to
have more than three people there at a time! (Just an indication of the complex
environment in which I work these days!) Anyway, for the exercise, you take the
group and place them in an open area with physical boundary. Something like a
tennis or half basketball court would do well. The rules are very simple. Everybody
chooses two other people at random from the group but gives no indication as to
who they are. These two other people become their frame of reference. Again,
there can be NO INDICATION as to who was chosen as a frame of reference. The
goal is given for each person to slowly maneuver themselves to be equidistant (not
necessarily in the middle of – just equidistant to each) between their frames
of reference. Of course, everybody is moving so it is a very fluid and chaotic
environment. In your estimation, how long would you think that this would take
to complete? Nick Obolensky (2008) actually shows us in a little video. Check
it out at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41QKeKQ2O3E
Wow! So for the group in the example – I counted 29
participants but it is a little grainy so it may have been a few more or less –
it took longer to explain the rules than to actually complete the exercise!
Before they began, they were asked how long they thought it would take and they
chuckled because they thought that the task was so chaotic (which it is) that
it would take a long time but it took less than a minute for the group to work
together to sort themselves out!
There is such a valuable lesson to be learned from
this. In complex environments – when chaos seems to be ruling – leaders don’t
need to put their hand in everything. The fact is that there are literally
millions of ways that this could have worked out. There are endless mathematical
possibilities Imagine if one person attempted to control all of this. I can
hear someone directing it now. “Okay, John, move three inches to the right. Now
Susan, two inches forward. Wait, you in the back! Where did you come from?
Argh! Now I have to start all over!” In reality, do you think that it is
possible for one person to complete this task? I suppose that one eventually
could but how long would it take?
::quick pause for an experiment::
I just had a great idea and I tried this with 10
coins. I couldn’t remember all of their frames of reference! So that experiment
didn’t work for time but maybe further proved the ultimate point of this.
I am sure that you can see where this is going. In
complex environments, it is not really possible for someone to manage the
chaos. That doesn’t mean that everything can’t run efficiently. We just can’t
control it. However, that doesn’t mean that there is no role for a leader.
Someone has to be there to give the basic rules and outline the boundaries.
Obolensky (2014) gives 8 guiding principles for situations like this to work.
1. Clear
individual objective
2. A
few simple rules
3. Clear
boundary
4. Continuous
feedback
5. Skill/will
of participants
6. Discretion
and freedom of action
7. Underlying
purpose
8. Ambiguity
and uncertainty
I have recently moved to another Army recruiting
center. When I took over my last center, it was not necessarily failing but we
were falling far behind on our mission (number of contracts written). Perhaps
it was just luck but the center began to produce again after I took over. I
honestly had no idea what I was doing. I was like a monkey banging on buttons
that just happened to randomly make the machine work! The new center where I
have now been placed has been failing for some time. The last center leader was
fired and removed so I was reassigned there on emergency orders. I moved into
that position one week after beginning this class so I am looking for the chaos
and it is very evident. I am excited to apply specifically what I have learned
from this exercise. It seems to all boil down to one old saying – when it comes
to leadership in a complex environment, less is more. My role is to give basic
objectives, a few simple rules, left and right limits (boundaries), then let me
team work together to achieve what they need to without being micromanaged.
UPDATE:
Since I originally posted this, I am seeing some disturbing
trends within my new Company (for those unfamiliar, that is my next higher echelon
of organization). Yesterday, I spend four hours in a conference only to go back
to my center and spend two hours on a conference call. Today, I was on another
conference call for nearly two hours. Across the board, every center within
Company has been failing to meet our numbers. I am concerned that these now
overly-excessive meetings are a desperate attempt to control what perhaps
cannot be controlled. It is removing the Center Leaders such as myself – those of
us with the most experience – from the mix during the most demanding times of
the day trying to direct our actions. We are about to have a change in
leadership at the end of next week so there probably is little that can be done
at this point but this is a case in point to the futility of trying to control
every aspect of a complex situation.
[Nick Obolensky]. (2008, April 12). Who needs leaders?. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41QKeKQ2O3E
Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex adaptive leadership: embracing paradox and uncertainty (2nd
ed.). Farnham: Gower.
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