Leading in Organizational Complexity Usefully

Useful

Having a beneficial use; serviceable; Being of practical use.

(Source: The American Heritage)

What do we need from our leaders?  We need them to be practical, usefully facilitating the creation of the value that the organization needs them to create.  In any complex communicative organization, be that organization in Tainui land or in Toronto, that leadership ‘usefulness’ become manifest, becomes real, becomes useful via persuasion.

Our risk awareness and our sense making must lead to persuasive action for an organization to more forward viably, to adapt toward enhanced prosperity, and to sustain such movement. Persuasive action is one of the three fundamental skills, but persuasive action – the tangible, manifest skillful action expressing our sense making – must also be useful.  That action must persuade others with direction so to generate movement and adapt fittingly.  Useful persuasive action is THE essential condition in a viable organization.

-Dr. James R. Barker-

Here are two useful articles for working with Coherence, Fidelity, and Actionability from the Narrative Reasoning portion of Lesson 5.

Read this blog entry from Strategy + Business: The four F’s of employee experience

How does the concepts of Form, Flow, Feeling, and Function create coherence, fidelity, and actionability in a complex organization?

Some hints, first note the connection to movement in Flow, keep moving forward. Then see the links to coherence in the clarity exhortation of Form. And the unique and unconventional link to fidelity in Feeling, such as fostering the belief that the employee experience should be delightful. Finally, Function directly ties to enabling action, creating the conditions for people to act with coherence and fidelity.

Read through this short article on Hanes Brand: Financial Post: Hanes Brand named one of 2021’s world’s most ethical companies

How does being recognized as “one of the world’s most ethical companies” give Hanes Brand coherence and fidelity? Consider both the coherence and fidelity of the brand image and of the story this recognition creates for employees. Consider how the recognition shapes the perception of ‘rightness’ in the company’s values and work processes (coherence) because they are enacting good and useful values (fidelity).

Now, the more difficult part. How does the coherence and fidelity of this recognition shape future action by the company? Consider both creating value from the brand and the ability of the company’s members to act in good and useful ways? How would the recognition and its implied coherence and fidelity shape how members appreciate risk, make sense of those risks, and subsequently act in persuasive ways? What happens if the action fails to fit with the coherence and, especially, the fidelity implied in the recognition?

The link below takes you to a contemporary discussion of the importance of persuasion as a core management skill. You can skim through the article or listen to the accompanying podcast.
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/the-secret-to-great-communication-skills/

While the author and host use different words from what we have been using to discuss managerial skills and persuasion, the points are the same. Persuasion permeates our lives, and the skilled manager must be adept at persuading responsibly. Note as well the persistent focus on leadership in the present and in other practitioner articles we have been reading. The present article and podcast note the importance of persuasion as a leadership skill. Why use the word leader instead of manager here? What is it about the word leader that that is so persuasive for us in this culture? Is there really some difference between the ethos, logos, and pathos that an organizational manager would have and what an organizational leader would have? Unfortunately, in our culture the words leadership, leading, and leader have powerful persuasive effects on us. And those effects are often unhelpful and unskillful.

The lesson videos discussed the importance of persuasion for stakeholders and stakeholder relationships.  You can find more information on persuasion and stakeholders in a video from my BUSI 6994 class (Note: Only Dalhousie University Panopto Users can view this video):

[VIDEO] 2-2-1 Complex Stakeholder Relationships

Much of the reading and resources that you will find on managerial persuasion will be based on sales and marketing, such as these resources:

Hubspot:  A Guide to the 6 Principles of Persuasion & How to Use Them in Sales

Influence at Work: 

You can also find a number of sources on leadership and influence, a term often used instead of persuasion;

 Impact Factory:  Leadership by Persuasion

        Fast Company:  Three Keys to Influential Leadership

 Have a yen for rhetorical philosophy?  Here are links to information on Seneca and Roman rhetoric.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Seneca

Communication Research Net: Roman Rhetoric

The faculty at Waikato University actively study Maori leadership.  Here is an example of this present work:

Maree Roache:  Five Key Values of Strong Māori Leadership

Deeply symbolic triangular forms appear often in Maori culture, particularly in terms of organizations and leadership.  Here is an example:

Otago Polytechnique:  Aka Whaika Māori
Māori Strategic Framework

For a useful overview of Narrative Theory, review the Wikipedia site:

Wikipedia:  Narrative