Leadership at Every Level: Practices for Aligned Autonomy

@mattphilip
Leadership at Every Level
Practices for Aligned Autonomy

@mattphilip #leanagileus19
Kanban Method Principles
Encourage acts of leadership at every level?
— Kanban Condensed

Alignment Enables Autonomy
— Henrik Kniberg

Today’s Environment
Volatile Uncertain Complex Ambiguous

Adaptive and Tactical Performance
Complex Complicated
SimpleChaotic
Relationship between cause and
effect clear only in hindsight
Relationship between cause
and effect requires analysis
Relationship between cause
and effect obvious to all
No relationship between
cause and effect at system level
Probe Analyze
CategorizeAct
Emergent Practice Good Practice
Best PracticeNovel Practice
Requires
adaptive
performance
Requires tactical
performance
— Cynefin: Dave Snowden

The Motive Spectrum
The Work
Itself
Your identity,
values and
beliefs
External Forces
Pleasure (Play)
Purpose
Potential
Emotional Pressure
Economic Pressure
Inertia
DirectIndirect
— Primed to Perform

Organizations
And their design for leadership

The Organizational Upside-Down
Manager Manager
Worker Worker Worker
Executive
Worker

The Organizational Upside-Down
Follower/
Leader
Follower/
Leader
Follower Follower Follower
Leader
Follower

The Organizational Rightside-Up
Manager Manager
Worker Worker Worker
Executive
Worker

The Organizational Rightside-Up: Leader-Leader
Leader Leader
Leader Leader Leader
Leader
Leader

Enablers: Psychological Safety and Shared Vision
Leader Leader
Leader Leader Leader
Leader
Leader

Safety Nets
Practices that enable psychological safety
16

Safety Nets
•Andon Cord
•“I intend to”
•Competence Building
•Playgrounds
•Strong Communities

Andon Cord

“I Intend to…” Language
Disempowered:
❖I would like to
❖What should we do about
❖Do you think we should
❖Could we
❖I need to ask <name>
Empowered:
❖I intend to, plan on
❖I/we will — Intent-Based Leadership® from Turn the Ship Around

Competence + Clarity = Aligned Autonomy
Competence + Clarity
GiveControl
Aligned Autonomy

Competence Building

"The ultimate test for a leader is not whether
he or she makes smart decisions and takes decisive
action, but whether he or she teaches others to be
leaders and builds an organization that can sustain its
success even when he or she is not around."  
 
-- Noel Tichy, The Leadership Engine

Playgrounds

Vision Balloons
Practices that enable shared vision and clarity
25

Vision Balloons: Practices That Enable Shared Vision and Clarity
❖ Hypothesis-Driven Leadership
❖ Leadership Backbrieﬁng
❖ Role Clarity and Design
❖ Company Bets/Portfolio Board
❖ Autonomy-Support Meetings

Hypothesis-Driven Leadership
❖ We believe that <doing/building/creating this>
❖ for <these people / personas>
❖ will achieve <this outcome>.
❖ We will know this is true when we see <this market feedback, quantitative
measure, or qualitative insight>.

Leader Backbriefing

Delegation Theater

Role Clarity and Design
❖ Show impact of individual
contribution
❖ Connect meaning of activity
❖ Set expectations, coach
❖ Provide social learning
connections
❖ Culture add over culture ﬁt
Competency
Exit
Flow Channel
Engagement
Boredom
Anxiety
Challenge

Linking All the Boards

Company Bets Boards
— Henrik Kniberg

Give Information, Not Instructions

Autonomy-Support Meetings
•How can I help you realize your goals in the next year?
•By when would you like me to achieve these things for you?
•In what areas have I failed to help you in the past, and how can I improve?
•What kind of things would help you feel more engaged?
•How can I help smooth your path toward mastery of certain skills?
•What does success look like for you, and how can I help you succeed?

Einheit: Unity and Alignment
— Salesforce: Vision, Values, Methods, Obstacles, and Measures

"When people lack clarity they will optimize for what
is in their control, output that is attainable to them but
not necessarily the outcomes you want to produce.”
— Barry O’Reilly

Parting Thoughts
Creating safety nets and vision balloons
40

Intent-Based Practices Get Real

Intent-Based Practices Get Real
Competence + Clarity
GiveControl
Aligned Autonomy

“If you tell people where to go, but not how to get
there, you’ll be amazed at the results.”
— George S. Patton

For Further Exploration
•Turn the Ship Around!
•The Fifth Discipline
•Primed to Perform
•https://www.unlearn.online/
•https://trailhead.salesforce.com/
•https://www.leanability.com/en/blog-en/2017/04/ﬂight-levels-the-
organizational-improvement-levels/
•https://blog.crisp.se/2016/06/08/henrikkniberg/spotify-rhythm

Leadership at Every Level: Practices for Aligned Autonomy

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