The Being and Doing of reflective Leadership Chrissie Godfrey and Paul Birch
Feb 24, 2016
The Being and Doing of reflective LeadershipChrissie Godfrey and Paul Birch
Single, double and triple loop learning
Are we doing things right?Here's what to do
Procedures or rules
Are we doing the right things?
Here's why this works
Insights and patterns
How do we decide what is right?Here's why we want to be doing
thisPrinciples
Self patterning
Think slower
AlphaThetaDelta
Beta 14 - 28 cycles per second
0 - 3 cycles per second3 - 7 cycles per second
7 - 14 cycles per second
1 Sec
Cultivate your inner observer
Lumina
Lumina
Facet 5
Silhouettes
Characteristics of your world
Stacey’s “Edge of Chaos”Cl
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Far f
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Close tocertainty
Far fromcertainty
SIMPLE
COMPLICATED
COMPLICATED
COMPLEX
CHAOTIC
SimpleCl
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Far f
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Close tocertainty
Far fromcertainty
Consistent events
Clear cause and effect
Right answer exists
Known knows
ComplicatedCl
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Far f
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t
Close tocertainty
Far fromcertainty
More than one right answer
Known unknowns
Expert diagnosis required
ComplexCl
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Far f
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Close tocertainty
Far fromcertainty
Flux and unpredictability
No right answer
Unknown unknowns
A need for creative and innovative approaches
ChaoticCl
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Far f
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agre
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Close tocertainty
Far fromcertainty
High turbulence
Unknowables
No point looking for right answers
Immediate action to re-establish order
The Context’s CharacteristicsCl
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reem
ent
Far f
rom
agre
emen
t
Close tocertainty
Far fromcertainty
High turbulence
Unknowables
No point looking for right answers
Immediate action to re-establish order
Flux and unpredictability
No right answer
Unknown unknowns
A need for creative and innovative approaches
More than one right answer
Known unknowns
Expert diagnosis required
Consistent events
Clear cause and effect
Right answer exists
Known knows
Snowden and Boone - ComplicatedThe Context’sCharacteristics
The Leader’s Job
Danger Signals
Response To Danger Signals
Expert diagnosis requiredCause-and-effect relationships discoverable but not immediately apparent to everyone; more than one right answer possibleKnown unknownsFact-based management
Sense, analyze, respondCreate panels of expertsListen to conflicting advice
Experts over confident in their own solutions or in the efficacy of past solutionsAnalysis paralysisExpert panelsViewpoints of nonexperts excluded
Encourage external and internal stakeholders to challenge expert opinions to combat entrained thinkingUse experiments and games to force people to think outside the familiar
Com
plic
ated
Snowden and Boone - ComplexThe Context’sCharacteristics
The Leader’s Job Danger Signals Response To Danger Signals
Flux and unpredictabilityNo right answers; emergent instructive patterns Unknown unknownsMany competing ideasA need for creative and innovative approachesPattern-based leadership
Probe, sense, respondCreate environments and experiments that allow patterns to emergeIncrease levels of interaction and communicationUse methods that can help generate ideas: Open up discussion (as through large group methods); set barriers; stimulate attractors; encourage dissent and diversity; and manage starting conditions and monitor for emergence
Temptation to fall back into habitual, command-and-control modeTemptation to look for facts rather than allowing patterns to emergeDesire for accelerated resolution of problems or exploitation of opportunities
Be patient and allow time for reflectionUse approaches that encourage interaction so patterns can emerge
Com
plex
Snowden and Boone - ChaoticThe Context’sCharacteristics
The Leader’s Job Danger Signals Response To Danger Signals
High turbulenceNo clear cause-and-effect relationships, so no point in looking for right answersUnknowablesMany decisions to make and no time to thinkHigh tensionPattern-based leadership
Act, sense, respondLook for what works instead of seeking right answersTake immediate action to reestablish order (command and control)Provide clear, direct communication
Applying a command-and-control approach longer than neededMissed opportunity for innovationChaos unabated“Cult of the leader”
Set up mechanisms (such as parallel teams) to take advantage of opportunities afforded by a chaotic environmentEncourage advisers to challenge your point of view once the crisis has abatedWork to shift the context from chaotic to complex
Cha
otic
Creating the environments for emergence• Having a strong overall sense of purpose and direction• Having the capacity to flex and change in quick response to changing environments• Having strong internal and external networks that recognise their interdependence• Having effective communication systems that stay current• Having the ability to innovate and pilot new ways of working• Enabling new directions and ideas to emerge from any part of the organisation• Having the capacity to circumvent bottlenecks• Having the capacity to make “not knowing” a strength rather than a weakness• Being able to let go of old paradigms if they no longer serve• Being alert to the present
Spheres of Influence
Control
Influence
Concern
The Being and Doing of reflective LeadershipChrissie Godfrey and Paul Birch