Complexity and Ambiguity Strategic Leadership Module Hampshire - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Working with Complexity and Ambiguity

Strategic Leadership Module

Hampshire Workforce Development Corporate Shared Services

Completing all the elements of this learning will enable you to improve your ability to lead

• thers when the

way ahead is unclear or complex.

Learning Outcomes By the end of the session you will be able to

• Recognise the nature of your current

complex or ambiguous challenges and apply techniques to manage them

• Be a role model for viewing complexity

and ambiguity as positive opportunities

• Inspire, motivate and lead others when

the way ahead is unclear, promoting a service culture where complexity and ambiguity are viewed as positive

• pportunities

“The 21st century will be the century of complexity” Stephen Hawking

• What are the biggest strategic leadership

issues that you are grappling with at the moment?

• How easy are they to resolve?

The mechanical mindset

The mechanical mindset

• To what extent is that mindset reflected in

your environment?

• What kind of things do you measure and

seek to predict?

• What kind of hierarchy? Components?

Tasks? Functions?

The mechanical mindset

• Does it work for some things?
• When might command and control be

really useful?

Wicked issues

Going back to your list of strategic issues

• Which of these issues do you and your

colleagues face that just never get resolved?

• That, despite your best efforts,

measurements and predictions, despite your action plans and accountabilities, just keep bobbing up?

• Why is that?

Interdependence and relationships

“You think because you understand one, you must understand two, because one and one makes

• two. But you

must also understand and.” Ancient Sufi teaching.

”With relationships, we give up on predictability and open up to potentials… None of us exists independent of our relationships with others.” Margaret Wheatley

Let’s see it in action

Now let’s do it

Complex adaptive systems need simple rules

Dialogue Principles Vision

Systems leadership is:

• systemic – based on shared ambition.
• participative – involving many people’s

expertise and ideas

• emergent – allows for partial / clumsy

solutions

• based on trust and relationships –

therefore on behaviours

Infection control

Mental Health in Hampshire (1)

• What would be a traditional, mechanical

approach?

• What would then tend to be the
• utcomes?
• Would all those outcomes be welcome?

Unintended consequences

Mental Health in Hampshire (2)

• What if we used VPD?
• What would our vision and purpose be?
• What values and principles would matter

most?

• What freedoms might people have to act?
• Who would we talk to?
• What information would we gather?

“The leader’s job is not to have a grand vision and show people how to reach

• it. The leader’s job is

to frame adaptive challenges and complex contexts in ways that moblize the diverse networks of people who must change so that they will want to change.” Bushe & Marshak

Neuroscience

minimising threat maximising reward

SCARF model

STATUS: relative importance to others CERTAINTY: being able to predict the future AUTONOMY: sense of control over events RELATEDNESS: sense of safety with others FAIRNESS: perception of fair exchanges

Using VPD and SCARF

• Groups of three. Focus on one person at a

time.

• One at any time to be the “owner” of a wicked

issue.

• The other two to coach and ask questions to

stimulate thinking.

• If wished, a coach may make notes on

handout for the owner.

• 15minutes each.

• Thoughts?
• Actions?
• How will you hold yourself to account?

Completing all the elements of this learning will enable you to improve your ability to lead

• thers when the

way ahead is unclear or complex.

Learning Outcomes By the end of the session you will be able to

• Recognise the nature of your current

complex or ambiguous challenges and apply techniques to manage them

• Be a role model for viewing complexity

and ambiguity as positive opportunities

• Inspire, motivate and lead others when

the way ahead is unclear, promoting a service culture where complexity and ambiguity are viewed as positive

• pportunities

Further reading - books

• “Leadership and the New Science” – Margaret J

Wheatley

• “The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the

Learning Organization” – Peter Senge

• “Complexity: A Very Short Introduction” – John H

Holland

• “Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing

Paradox and Uncertainty” – Nick Obolensky

• “The Art of Change Making “ Curated and

produced by John Atkinson, Emma Loftus and John Jarvis on behalf of the Systems Leadership Steering Group, The Leadership Centre

Further reading - articles

• “Want to understand how Trump happened? Study quantum

physics.” – Parag Khanna

• “Wicked Problems and Clumsy Solutions: the Role of

Leadership” – Keith Grint

• “Living Leadership” – The Leadership Centre for Local

Government

• “The Dialogic Mindset: Leading Emergent Change in a

Complex World” – Bushe & Marshak

• “SCARF: a brain-based model for collaborating with and

influencing others” – David Rock (NeuroLeadership Journal)

• “Systems Leadership: Exceptional leadership for exceptional

times” Synthesis paper – Ghate, Lewis and Welbourn

• “The Revolution will be Improvised: Stories and insights about

transforming systems” – Richard Vize

Working with Complexity and Ambiguity

Strategic Leadership Module

Hampshire Workforce Development Corporate Shared Services