1. Adaptive Action
@Work
Turning Sticky Issues into Strategic
Solutions
By Christi Olson, PhD and Glenda Eoyang, PhD
That’s why change is so challenging and why it’s essential to
focus on patterns of behavior, specifically patterns you want to
keep, amplify or change. Focusing on patterns allows you to
take actions that move your organization, teams and
individuals forward effectively and quickly. Adaptive Action
allows you to influence patterns to get them unstuck or to shift
them before they get locked.
Adaptive Action works because it is the DNA for complexity in
our VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, change and ambiguity)
world, and it aligns with how things work today – complex, fast
moving, unpredictable, uncertain and always in flux. Change
is dynamic; long term planning isn’t reliable; our global
economy and markets are unpredictable; technology solutions
are introduced at a furious pace; and people work hard to
keep up.
Patterns are the foundation for
behavior . . .and behavior is the
hardest thing to change.Simple Design.
Flawless Execution.
Focused Success.

2. 2 www.adaptiveactiongroup.com. ©2014. All rights reserved.
When you change the
behavior, you change the
pattern. When you
change the pattern, you
change the behavior.
Adaptive Action makes
the most of this powerful
process.
So what do we mean by
patterns? A pattern is a
repetitive set of behaviors,
and Adaptive Action
breaks the pattern.
1
Let’s look at an example of
Adaptive Action. Let’s say
your colleague wants to get
fit and lose 20 pounds over
the next six months. He gets
up each morning at 7 a.m.
and walks the dog for two
miles (current pattern). That
pattern is considered
positive behavior and
supports the goal to get fit.
As the day goes on, your
colleague eats a healthy
lunch and dinner consisting
of mainly protein and
veggies (this pattern of
protein and veggies is
aligned with his goal of
getting fit).
Around 7 p.m. each evening
your colleague eats cookies
and other sweets. This
pattern – eating sugar every
night – does not help with
the goal to get fit and lose
weight.
In organizations and teams,
you find similar patterns.
There are patterns around
communications – the senior
leader only shares
information with the senior
2
team or the senior leader
shares information across
the organization.
There are patterns around
decision-making – you can
see and identify patterns
around consensus decision-
making or command and
control decision-making.
Other examples of patterns
can be around the level of
risk, product delivery (on
time or late to market),
innovation, execution,
employee engagement,
productivity, global
expansion and so forth.
Almost all our behaviors can
be identified as patterns.
When you change the
behavior, you change the
pattern. When you change
the pattern, you change the
behavior. Adaptive Action
makes the most of this
powerful process by shining
a light on assumptions and
current actions that are no
longer a fit and refocusing
energy on identifying
patterns and actions that are
a best fit.

3. 3 www.adaptiveactiongroup.com. ©2014. All rights reserved.
A breakthrough
change process that
focuses on 3
questions – What? So
What? Now What? –
that enable you to
see your patterns
differently and take
right action
effectively and
quickly.
1
Adaptive Action is a breakthrough change process that
aligns patterns with actions. Adaptive Action focuses on
three questions - What? So What? Now What? - that
enable you to see your patterns differently so you can
decide which patterns to keep, change or amplify.
Always start with a business or organizational goal such as
expanding existing market share or entering new markets,
implementing emerging technology, bringing new products
or services to market or acquisition. You can also start with
an issue or challenge or problem – something that is in the
way, that’s important, that you’ve tried many times to solve
and haven’t been successful.
A global client wanted to develop a three-year strategy and
roadmap. The primary goals were to provide security
around the globe, develop their people to meet the
anticipated skillsets and communicate more effectively
internally and externally.
Start with What? What are the current patterns? It is best
to begin with an organizational or adaptive capacity
assessment to discover key underlying patterns. Key
patterns for this client included providing security to all
business units globally on an inconsistent basis, being
under resourced yet heaping more work onto an already
strained workforce, providing innovative solutions around
sustainability, starting projects and programs but not always
completing them on time and not having the right mix of
people and talent skills for anticipated future needs.
So what is
Adaptive
Action?
(continued)

4. 4 www.adaptiveactiongroup.com. ©2014. All rights reserved.
Sticky or Wicked Issues
don’t come from
processes, people or
policies. They come
from patterns, and only
pattern-based
approaches like
Adaptive Action can
solve them.
2
Next ask So What? do these
patterns mean, what are the
implications to us, to our
clients? One implication was
that the global security
team’s pattern included
handing over projects to roll
out worldwide but there were
too few resources to manage
projects and this caused a
bottleneck. Another
implication was the attempt
to provide security to all
business units. The fastest
growing business unit had
priority needs yet was being
treated like all other clients
so there was no adjusting for
need. This was an ongoing
pattern that no longer
worked or fit given the shift
in business conditions.
The senior leader team said
yes to all projects (another
pattern) and the implication
was that the team was under
resourced, over taxed and
not finishing projects on
time. There was no clear
prioritization.
Then ask Now What? do we
do? What solutions do we
desire? What actions do we
take? One big ‘aha’
occurred when the group
realized the pattern of saying
yes meant they weren’t
focusing on serving the
business unit’s high growth.
So the Now What? meant
they couldn’t be all things to
all people and instead they
focused on rolling out
initiatives and resources to
the high growth business
unit as a priority.
Another action was to create
a workforce planning team to
inventory employee skills
3
and recommend key
competencies required for
future work. This included
individual development plans
for each employee.
They also defined a global
program and accountability
for program rollout to ensure
they had global coverage,
and the client groups could
absorb each program. The
group also agreed to
communicate progress
toward goals each quarter.
This process of Adaptive
Action—from pattern
recognition to action plan--
took about two days. They
developed their strategy and
three year roadmap
effectively and quickly with
better results than previous
attempts at planning.
Adaptive Action made it
possible for the group to
make significant progress
because they focused on the
patterns, rather than a
process, to solve problems.
Working with Sticky or
Wicked Issues
This client’s issues were
what are called “sticky”
issues. These are problems
that just don’t seem to go
away. Either they are totally
new, or too big to
understand, or keep coming
unsolved or they persist no
matter what you do.
Such wicked problems don’t
come from processes,
people or policies. They
come from patterns, and
only pattern-based
approaches like Adaptive
Action can solve them.
Adaptive Action made
it possible for the group
to make significant
progress and shorten
their cycle because
they focused on the
patterns, rather than a
process, to solve
problems.

5. 5 www.adaptiveactiongroup.com. ©2014. All rights reserved.
1
Accountability, quality,
engagement, innovation,
execution, conflict, customer
service - these are sticky
issues for many
organizations. Adaptive
Action helps you see,
understand and shift those
patterns so the sticky issues
get unstuck.
How does Adaptive Action
fit with other change
models?
Most change models are
phased processes, such as
Kotter’s Change Model or
Change Management
models and can be effective
initially. They focus on
completing each phase or
step in the process. Change
is messy and people and
organizations get bogged
down as they work through a
many-stepped process for
change and transition.
These models are less
effective when sticky issues
appear or the organization or
team has to act fast.
Seeing, identifying and
changing patterns is the only
way through the complexity
and messiness of change.
Adaptive Action gives your
team and organization a
chance to break through with
much less pain, so it
positions you for much better
results.
Adaptive Action works
effectively with other change
models or it can be the
change model of choice. For
example, if your organization
is following the Kotter model,
2
you can leverage Adaptive
Action when you run into
sticky issues or when you
move from readiness to initial
implementation. The patterns
present in the “preparation
and planning” stages are
vastly different when you start
“initial implementation.” This
is where most change models
break down. With Adaptive
Action, you can break
through!
How can you use Adaptive
Action?
You can use Adaptive Action
in multiple ways.
ü Plan and engage in
planning and strategy
development (Boards,
Executive Teams,
Senior Leader Teams)
ü Execute or implement
strategic
initiatives (Enterprise,
Global, Division,
Products, Projects,
Programs)
ü Make disruptive
change happen–
from innovation and
3
concept to readiness
and implementation
ü Integrate processes and
cultures in Mergers &
Acquisitions culture
integration
ü Resolve Sticky or
Wicked issues that must
be solved, but seem
unsolvable
ü Get teams and groups
Unstuck
ü Coach leaders and
managers to lead
complex change and
transitions
Adaptive Action makes it
possible for you to respond to
change and uncertainty by:
• building adaptive capacity in
your organization
• considering innovative ideas
and concepts
• choosing your options for
action with good data
• focusing on employees,
customers and partner
relationships
• implementing to leapfrog
rather than just keep up.
By leveraging Adaptive
Action, you can be successful,
even in the most challenging
and complex environments!
Learn how to build
your own adaptive
capacity so you can
attain and sustain
success!

6. To learn more go to: www.adaptiveactiongroup.com
To find out about the theory behind Adaptive Action go to:
www.adaptiveaction.org
About Adaptive Action Group
Think of us as the DIY (do it yourself)
people for flawless organization
change. We teach you to adapt your
actions by focusing on the patterns and
behaviors that ignite and drive change.
Working with us, you learn how to build
your own adaptive capacity so you can
attain and sustain success. We do this by
facilitating and teaching people and
organizations how to adapt to complex
changes in their environment quickly and
effectively.
Christi Olson, Ph.D., SPHR
CEO, Adaptive Action Group
christiolson@adaptiveactiongroup.com
Christi’s work focuses on business, education and
non-profits leading and accelerating strategic and
operational change efforts worldwide. She has
held senior leader positions in strategy, sales,
marketing, product development, product strategy,
IT, operations, leadership and organizational
development and HROD. She is known for
her ability to partner effectively with clients to get
the job done, solve sticky issues, think strategically
and act tactically to achieve results. She consults
and coaches people and organizations to make
successful transitions and change.
Adapted from Adaptive Action: Leveraging Uncertainty in Your
Organization, by Glenda Eoyang and Royce Holladay.
Glenda Eoyang, Ph.D.
Executive Director, HSD Institute
Glenda@hsdinstitue.org
Glenda discovered the roots of complexity in
human systems and gives them away every day.
Her research revealed the underlying dynamics of
chaos, and her practice invented models to explain
it and methods to influence it. In 1986, Glenda
began to use these principles herself and to help
others use them, too. In 2000, she named this field
of study and action as human systems dynamics
(HSD). She consults, facilitates, coaches, and
teaches in public and private organizations around
the world.