Leading in Organizational Complexity

Lead

To be a route or means of access for a particular direction; the initiative in an action.

(Source: Oxford Learners)

Chapter 3 requires us to think differently and think deeply.  ‘Leadership’ brings with it to the organization powerful cultural and psychological baggage. We are drawn to leadership on an emotional level; leadership touches us very deeply in our psyche – Leadership is a psychological term relating to individuals and culture. And leadership, as we know it here in Canada, is powerfully invested in both our individual psychology and collective culture.

But complexity pushes us to think differently and deeply about leadership. Complexity pushes us to see leadership as a collective, co-created, organizational phenomenon, not something invested in a particular individual – a push that fails to sit well with how we are taught to conceptualize and to understand leadership.  And that disconnect sets the stage for the difficult conversation that we must have about leadership.

Organizational complexity teaches us that the phenomenon we commonly call leadership arises to move an organization forward and usefully through time and that leadership is a collective co-creation rather than the courageous actions of a bold individual. And that notion is very difficult for us to grasp. We want to believe in the psychological image of leadership we have been taught by North American (that is, the US, as the US is the primary developer, exporter, colonizer, and commodifier of leadership thought); but the organization needs something different.

-Dr. James R. Barker-

Here are a set of readings that you can use to explore the issues embedded in the dominant psychological view of leadership.

First is an article on the thinking of the renowned Canadian management scholar, Henry Mintzberg that helps you to engage how management and leadership have become confounded and conflated.

https://www.hr.com/en?t=/documentManager/sfdoc.file.supply&fileID=1345564186555

The second article, available through the Dalhousie Library system, provides an example of the research that forms the thesis of Pfeffer’s book, Getting Beyond the BS of Leadership Literature, which was referenced above.

John Wabush: There is no such thing as leadership, revisited

Washbush’s article references the work of Charles Yoos, who was my leadership mentor years ago.  Unfortunately, a stand-alone posting of Yoos’ article no longer exists; however, you can find a version of Yoos’ paper here (pages 343-347 of the document).

Here are two more recent commentaries on Yoos’ claims about leadership.

 Matthew Evans

https://educontrarianblog.com/2019/06/16/theres-no-such-thing-as-leadership/

Richard Maida

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/thing-leadership-richard-maida-mba-%E0%AE%83/?articleId=6714628010689015809

You can find an interview with Yoos at this link.

You should know that there are voices out there, mainly outside North America that challenge the assumptions we make about transformational leadership. Unfortunately, their voices are mainly crowded out by the pervasiveness of the transformational leadership movement. Here is one useful book:

Dennis Tourish: The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership

Here is a link to an article from the Complexity Management Centre that presents evidence about the difficulties in executing transformational leadership according to our heightened expectations. Note that in their research, the authors discovered that the practical reality of implementing transformational leadership is much different from our expectations. Bottom line point: Transformational leadership does not really mean much in reality. What does matter is an executive’s ability to manage complexity effectively? And that is what we are pursuing in our present course.

Chris Mowles; Complexity Management Centre: What leaders talk about when they talk about transformation.

For practical material, my frequent collaborator, Professor Phil Clampitt’s ‘Dr. So What’ website is designed to offer tips and guidelines to managers seeking to move their complex organizations forward in a positive manner.

Look especially at the ‘Questions’ and ‘Guides’ sections for useful frameworks that can help you plan your responsible forward movement.

Complexity teaches us that we can get everything right, ‘on paper’, and still fail. Not all adaptive directions, not all apparent ways to create the right value the right way work out.  Even top companies can fail in their movement even after working out the conditions to generate that movement.

Why Starbucks failed in Australia

Complexity also teaches us that resilient organizations can absorb a failure,  learn from it, and keep moving forward.  How did Starbucks do in that regard?

Starbucks:  Starbucks celebrates one year in Milan

https://stories.starbucks.com/emea/stories/2019/starbucks-celebrates-one-year-in-milan-plans-to-open-in-more-italian-cities/

How is Starbucks doing these days in terms of resilience?

The lecture video briefly discussed organizational ethos, and we will return to this concept later on.  Until then, here is a useful example of an organizational ethos in action, Johnson and Johnson’s famous Credo.

Review the material from the Johnson and Johnson website regarding their company’s “Credo,” their firm’s ethos statement:

The Johnson and Johnson Credo
https://www.jnj.com/about-jnj/jnj-credo

Watch the Johnson and Johnson CREDO video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk9j-5l4jVA

Johnson and Johnson’s Credo is one of the most visible and enduring examples of how a corporate ethos shapes member action and moves the organization forward is a ‘good’ direction. Note how the credo gives statements of principles that are designed to affect member sense-making and then subsequent action. Note how the credo is articulated in a way to reach all elements of the Johnson and Johnson organization, across all its stakeholders.

The Credo is not perfect and does not work all the time:

Patients versus profits at Johnson and Johnson
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/patients-versus-profits-at-johnson-johnson-has-the-company-lost-its-way/

But it works most of the time. The credo has endured as an effective way for Johnson and Johnson, as a large business, to move forward in complexity responsibly.

This article compares Jacinda with leaders of some different countries.

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/1/27/africas-leaders-do-not-know-when-to-call-it-quits