For Harvard scholar Ronald Heifetz courage is represented in the model of adaptive leadership. Like Rayner, Heifetz believes that leaders must correctly identify the nature of the problems they are facing and make choices about the appropriate subsequent actions they take. Heifetz examines the difference between a technical (crisis/tame) problem and an “adaptive” or complex problem. A technical problem offers an engineered and predictable solution. Conversely, “adaptive” problems—complex problems—require innovation and iterative learning. The leader must tap the energy, resources, and ideas of the group to act. A major tenet of adaptive leadership is that the leader must empower people to take collective responsibility for the problem and protect those who raise hard questions and challenge current thinking. Heifetz calls for leaders to “get off the dance floor” when dealing with complex issues and “stand on the balcony” to see patterns and points of view. Compassion Building teams and working collaboratively with respect for different perspectives requires the qualities of humility and empathy and the ability to “walk in another’s shoes,” according to Warwick Business School Professor Keith Grint. Deliberate Leadership uses the term “compassion” to collectively describe humility and empathy when leaders apply them in addressing wicked problems. Creativity Deliberate Leadership calls for leaders to “go slow to go fast”—to take the time to explore options creatively and to imagine “what if” scenarios of what could go right and what could go wrong with an investment. Scenario planning advances program design and organizational development but often unfortunately is prone to being skipped in the problem-solving process, especially when it is perceived to slow down a process that is addressing an urgent problem. Simply, scenario planning enables participants to change their mental models and catalyzes action by allowing multiple perspectives to be heard, accelerating collaborative learning and aligning vision and solutions. Community Positive Deviance (PD) is a useful model for involving the wisdom of the community when dealing with complex issues. Developed by Jerry and Monique Sternin to address severe malnutrition in poor Vietnamese villages, it puts into practice the concept of giving back the problem to the people who are most affected. The Sternin’s found that villagers could identify “positive deviants” from the norm whose behaviors made them more successful
42
Ten Years in the Making
Powered by FlippingBook