In today’s world, complex adaptive systems are challenging human attempts to solve some of the big problems, such as climate change. The problems are ambiguous and important information may be missing when people try to solve them. They are constantly changing and attempts to solve them can lead to unintended consequences.
This is where the role of ecosystems comes in. Innovative networks generate great value. The problems they solve may be complex, but their strategy process is not. The skills needed are simple, but not easily found. True power is generated from combining these skills, as the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
The book “Strategic Doing: Ten Skills for Agile Leadership” by Edward Morrison, Scott Hutcheson, Elizabeth Nielsen, Janice Fadden, and Nancy Franklin proves that for strategy to work, people must collaborate meaningfully, pooling assets and moving toward mutually beneficial, shared goals.
Creating a safe environment
The first skill highlighted in the book is creating a safe environment for deep and purposeful conversations. In-depth conversations are nourishing and satisfying, but require that any distractions be cut off. Choosing a location to have these conversations is key. Ideally, it is a neutral place where people feel safe when communicating, and where they believe they are being heard.
The right questions to solve complex problems
Conversations about complex problems should not focus on the problem itself, but should instead explore options. These are the questions that get people to act. The right question prompts people to want to join the conversation.
Create new opportunities
In the past, hierarchies have held and allocated resources, but that doesn’t happen in the world of ecosystems. Assets and resources are everywhere and no one is in charge of allocating them. Cash is not the only resource, so are physical assets such as real estate and equipment, skills and knowledge assets, also social and capital assets.
Using and linking assets
Agile leaders not only help to identify and allocate resources but also to find linkages, levers and alignments between them. An agile leader starts by identifying three or four assets and figuring out ways to combine them.
Identifying easy, high-impact opportunities
With many options to choose from, one should focus on those that have the greatest likelihood of success, and make choices on options that are easy and have the greatest impact. Small efforts attract attention and increase support. The network will then expand and can take on more complex tasks.
Turning ideas into results
Defining what success means and measuring results are key to moving from ideas to action. Agile leaders know how to help the group move from talking to doing with commitments to execute.
A flexible strategy
The shared leadership model allows for greater flexibility and is better suited to solving complex problems than single leader models. Trust is the most important factor for successful shared leadership.
The 30/30 rule
Conducting meetings according to the 30/30 rule maintains the feedback loop. The meeting organizer should ask what people have learned in the last 30 days and decide what to do in the next 30.
Strategic doing
No agile leader can master all 10 agile leadership skills. Strategic doing doesn’t work in a hierarchy. Each group member brings a different strength. The more complex the problem, the more effective shared leadership becomes. Diversity matters when one is faced with wicked problems because it brings together different perspectives on the situation.
