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A Leadership Survival Guide to Transformation - Aldo Rall & Andy Cooper - AgileNZ 2017
The document outlines a leadership survival guide emphasizing the importance of learning agility in navigating transformation challenges within organizations. It discusses key obstacles to adopting agile practices, such as management resistance and traditional methods, while proposing various strategies and tools to enhance learning and adaptability. Ultimately, it highlights that effective leadership involves fostering an environment of continuous learning and psychological safety to drive engagement and improvement.
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A Leadership Survival Guide to Transformation - Aldo Rall & Andy Cooper - AgileNZ 2017
- 1. A Leadership SurvivalGuide to Transformation Andy Cooper Aldo Rall
- 2. Why this talk? Different backgrounds Partneringon this learning journey Challenged by the same questions Sharing our insights and experience
- 3. Avisit to ahouse somewhere in Wellington.. Mark Thompson, 2012 “I blame entropy” Increase in entropy Highly ordered
- 4. Making sense ofour world: Cynefin Cause-and-effect is known Cause-and-effect is unknown OrderedUnordered Complex Probe Sense Respond Emergent Complicated Sense Analyse Respond Good Practice Chaotic Act Sense Respond Novel Simple Sense Categorise Respond Best Practice Disorder For more see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework and David Snowden and Cognitive Edge Volatility Uncertainty VUCA Complexity Ambiguity
- 5. Responses to disruptionby industry How to Create an Agile Organisation: McKinsey and Company, October 2017 % of respondents reporting organization-wide agile transformations at their companies,1 by industry 54 50 46 42 38 34 30 26 22 0 Low Perceived instability of business environment2 High High tech Social Sector Electric power and natural gas Financial services Telecommunications Retail Media and entertainment Professional services Advanced industries Consumer packaged goods Oil and gas Heathcare systems and services Travel, transport, and logistics Automotive and assembly Infrastructure Pharmaceuticals And medical products Private equity and principal investors Basic materials
- 6. The “busyness” epidemic Managersare spending fewer than seven hours per week of uninterrupted time to do deep versus shallow work Rest of time spent attending meetings, sending e- communications or working in time increments of less than 20 minutes Busyness drains energy, equals less innovation and engagement Labour Productivity has been declining in NZ over the last 5 years and sits at less than 1% per annum Only 14% of NZ employees are engaged in their jobs
- 7. Challenges with adoptingAgile Companyphilosophy or culture at odds with core agile values Lack of experience with agile methods Lack of management support General organization resistance to change Lack of business/customer/product owner Insufficient training Pervasiveness of traditional development Inconsistent agile practices and process Fragmented tooling, data, and measurements Ineffective collaboration Regulatory compliance and governance Don’t know 47% 43% 34% 31% 45% 41% 34% 19% 20% 15% 63% 2% *Respondents were able to make multiple selections. VersionOne® - 11th Annual State of Agile Report (2017)
- 8. Our hypothesis: “How canyou arm yourself so that you successfully tackle those new, unfamiliar situations that are bound to come your way? Through Learning” From: Becoming an Agile Leader, Victoria Swisher We support this statement and our talk will show you how we came to the same conclusion. We believe that Learning Agility is a key leadership skill required for sustainable transformations. Leadership People, Systems, structures & processes Employee Engagement Transformation Start here Learning Agility
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- 10. AAMETAMENTALMODEL Org. Strategy History Purpose Processes Learninghabits Awareness of value History Decisions Purpose Internal conflict Values Beliefs and biases Attitudes Habits Decisions Skills Emotions Empathy Behaviours Conflict agreements Understanding of value Shared learning processes and habits Processes and rules Decisions Strategy & objectives Structure History Behaviours Objectives Purpose Habits Organisational learning Habits Policies and rules Value Chain Roles and responsibilities Realising Value By Andy Cooper and Aldo Rall A3 version can be found here: https://goo.gl/JrjMnt
- 11. AAMETAMENTALMODEL: My leadershipandlearningagilityskills 1. Me Adapting/ Survival SCARF Model Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Learning habits Awareness of value History Mindset Decisions Purpose Discipline Skills Emotions Empathy Behaviours Values Beliefs and biases Attitudes Habits Decisions
- 12. Survivalskillsforme:Developthinkingandmemoryskills Chunking * isa term referring to the process of taking individual pieces of information (chunks) and grouping them into larger units. By grouping each piece into a large whole, you can improve the amount of information you can remember. Using focused and diffused modes *: “your mind needs to be able to go back and forth between the two different learning modes…. allowing yourself to grow a neuro-scaffold to hang your thinking on” *From: Learning how to learn, A Coursera MOOC with Dr. Barbara Oakley & Dr. Terrence Sejnowski Get enough sleep! * • Chunking on Steroids = Latticeworks of Chunks = mental models • Mental models = mind’s toolbox for making decisions • “you must have a large number of them, and they must be fundamentally lasting ideas” ** From Farnam Street Blog: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/mental-models/ Mental Models **
- 13. LearningAgility research forme https://www.kornferry.com/developing-learning-agility “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn” Alvin Toffler 15% Is a top predictor of high potential. It is estimated that just 15% of the global workforce are highly agile. +25% Korn Ferry found companies with highly agile executives have 25% high profit margins than their peer group. *Korn Ferry Institute study, 2014 Executives with high levels of learning agility, tolerance for ambiguity, empathy and social fluidity are five times more likely to be highly engaged. 5X1X 2X 3X 4X Individuals with high learning agility are promoted twice as fast as individuals with low learning agility. *Korn Ferry Institute study, 2014 2x
- 14. Survival skills forme: LearningAgility Learning Agility Spiral for Active, Continuous and Intentional Learning Awareness Share and Explain Evaluate the Learning Implement via Experiments Explore Alternatives Awareness • Traditional learning practices are becoming less effective • Learning does not stop with reading or attending training • Life around us provides opportunities to learn (the experience is active learning) • How do we improve the effectiveness and value of our active learning?
- 15. “We’d rather dothe quick, simple thing than the important complicated thing, even if the important complicated thing is ultimately a better use of time and energy” I may be biased https://betterhumans.coach.me/cognitive-bias-cheat-sheet-55a472476b18
- 16. Inscription over theGreek temple in Delphi Use the SEEDs Model to understand and Manage your Biases 5 Main types of Biases: • Similarity • Expedience • Experience • Distance • Safety https://neuroleadership.com/portfolio- items/breaking-bias-updated-the-seeds-model-2/ Clarity of Purpose Why Discovery course by Simon Sinek: “Everyone has a WHY. Your WHY is the purpose, cause or belief that inspires you. Knowing your WHY gives you a filter to make choices, at work and at home, that will help you find greater fulfilment in all that you do” https://startwithwhy.com/why-discovery-course/ Survival tools for me: “Know thyself” Use the SCARF model to understand your triggers. http://www.scarfsolutions.com/selfassessment.aspx AWAY From threat response Status Certainty Autonomy Relatedness Fairness TOWARD Reward Response© David Rock
- 17. 1. Me 2. MyTeams Tuckman Model & Lean Change Management Adapt Maslow P. Lencioni: 5 dysfunctions of a team Team charter Social contract SCARF Behaviours Objectives Purpose Habits Shared learning Discipline Processes and rules Decisions Beliefs Agreements Understanding of value Experiment friendly Strategy & objectives Structure History Safety AAMETAMENTALMODEL: Me andmy teams
- 18. Psychological safety Team membersfeel safe to take risks and be vulnerable in front of each other. 1 Dependability Team members get things done on time and meet Google’s high bar for excellence. 2 Structure & Clarity Team members have clear roles, plans, and goals. 3 Meaning Work is personally important to team members. 4 Impact Team members think their work matters and creates change. 5 Research for me and my teams From: https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful- google-team/ From: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/high-performance-via-psychological- safety-joshua-kerievsky/ @HeidiHelfand @JoshuaKerievsky Be YourselfTake Risks Psychological safety exists when you’re not afraid to Make mistakes Raise Problems Ask Questions Disagree © Google Safe to take risks = experiment friendly Clarity and purpose Recognition and acknowledgement
- 19. Survival skills forme and my teams: Combat “busyness” Lean work practices • Focus on value • Treat hours like dollars with a real opportunity cost • Understand where your time goes and strive to reduce over communication Understand your energy cycles • Meeting free mornings • 100% on and then 100% off • High energy things when you have high energy Create time • 20% goal for learning and applying • Diffused thinking time and activities for creativity Learn more: • Deep work – rules for a focused success in a busy world • Smarter, faster, better
- 20. Survival skills forme and my teams: LearningAgility Considerations for successful Learning Agility: • Participate in Active learning • Be aware of the step currently being practiced • Visualize every step • Have multiple tools available to perform at every step • Celebrate the learning • Keep the environment fail safe
- 21. Survival tools forme and my teams: ALearning Kanban Backlog Done Mental model sub topics Decide whether you need to learn it (Low Priority) Schedule a block of time for learning it (Highest Priority) Learn it right away (High Priority) Learn it as the chance arises (Lowest Priority) Adapted from the original HBR article by Marc Zao-Sanders. See https://hbr.org/ 2017/09/a-2x2-matrix-to-help-you-prioritize-the-skills-to-learn-right-now Timetolearn Usefulness/ Value/ Impact of the feature Celebration Grids from Jurgen Appello’s Management 3.0 materials. See https://management30.com/practice/celebration-grids/ Celebration grid Behaviour Outcome Mistakes Experiments You screwed up! Where’s your brain? You lucky person! OK, You failed BUT you learned! Yay! You exceeded AND your learned! Argh, bad luck! Yay! You exceeded by doing the right things! Practices LEARNINGNo learning No learning FAILURE SUCCESS
- 22. Survival tools forme and my teams: A3 Thinking Reducing waste and communicating efficiently and effectively Background & problem statement Target condition Current condition Steps, schedule and measurements Project area: Owner: http://jpattonassociates.com/opportunity-canvas/
- 23. Survival tools forme and my teams: Recognition and appreciation Management 3.0 tools for recognition: • Kudos Box • Kudo Cards • 12 steps to happiness Some hints and tips for recognition: 1. Recognise people based on specific results and behaviours 2. Implement peer to peer recognition 3. Share recognition stories 4. make recognition easy and frequent 5. Tie recognition to your company or team values Article by Josh Bersin, Forbes magazine, see https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2012/06/13/new-research-unlocks- the-secret-of-employee-recognition/2/#742727a5ede2 See https://management30.com/practice/
- 24. Survival tools forme and my teams: Change Leadership McKinsey’s 7s Framework: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinsey_7S_Framework Hard factors • Strategy • Structure • System Soft factors • Shared values • Skills • Style • Staff PROSCI ADKAR model Successful change THE PEOPLE SIDE OF CHANGE PHASES OF A CHANGE PROJECT © Prosci Inc https://www.prosci.com/adkar/adkar-model Awareness Desire Knowledge Ability Reinforcement Business need Concept & design Implementation Post - implementation http://leanchange.org/ Lean Change Management (Jason Little) OPTIONS INSIGHTS (START HERE) EXPERIMENT PREPARE INTRODUCE REVIEW
- 25. 1. Me 2. MyTeam Organisational culture Collaborative Experiment friendly and safety Trust and accountability Disruptive models Org. transformation models Tuchman Model Adapt Organisational values Team charter Social contract SCARF Maslow P. Lencioni: 5 dysfunctions of a team F. Laloux: Reinventing Organisations 3. My Organisation AAMETAMENTALMODEL: Me andmy organisation
- 26. 5 Practices ofExemplary Leadership Extraordinary Leadership in Australia and New Zealand : The Five Practices That Create Great Workplaces By James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner, With Michael Bunting 5 Practices 10 Commitments Model the Way 1 Find your voice by clarifying your personal values 2 Set the example by aligning actions with shared values Inspire a Shared Vision 3 Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities 4 Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations Challenge the Process 5 Search for opportunities by seeking innovative ways to change, grow, and improve 6 Experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from mistakes Enable Others to Act 7 Foster Collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust 8 Strengthen others by sharing power and discretion Encourage the Heart 9 Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for induvial excellence 10 Celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community
- 27. Survival skills formy organisation: LearningAgility A learning organisation is “…where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together.” From: Building a Learning Organization by David Garvin, https://hbr.org/1993/07/building-a-learning-organization
- 28. Summary Successful people, teamsand organisations have better Beliefs, Habits and Discipline Skills for me Tools for me Skills for me and my team Tools for me and my team Some skills for my organisation Some tools for my organisation Cynefin Cynefin Cynefin Chunking SCARF model Clarity of Purpose A3 thinking Learning Agility 5 Practices of Exemplary Leadership Start-up Way (Eric Reis) Focussed & Diffused thinking Experiment Canvasses Sleep Learning Decision Matrix Mental Models Find Your Why Combat “Busyness” Celebration Grid Learning Agility Recognition and Appreciation tools (Management 3.0 and Maslow) Recognition and Appreciation Process not Product SEEDs model Learning Agility Change leadership tools (ADKAR, 7s framework and Lean change Management)Biases
- 29. In conclusion “Only threethings happen naturally in organisations: friction, confusion, and underperformance. Everything else requires leadership.” Peter Drucker Everyone is a leader, we just have different domains of authority Leadership People, Systems, structures & processes Employee Engagement Transformation Start here Learning Agility
- 30. Where do Istart? It starts with me (You don’t need permission from management to start learning) Have a clear sense of purpose ExperimentBe comfortable with failure and ambiguity Reduce waste Visualise your learning
- 31. Invitation … As ourworld becomes increasingly volatile, unpredictable and overwhelming, imagine the possibilities if we develop the capabilities (personal & organisational) to quickly and easily adapt to changing business conditions and actually create change to outpace competitors and increase our value. We fearlessly welcome challenges with confidence and inspire (and empower) our teams to do the same - knowing that we will learn from emerging future challenges.
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- 33. References to ourtalk Andadditionaltools,skillsandmethodstoconsider
- 34. ReferencesforAAMetaMentalModel: Me andMy Team AllBlacks Legacy: what the All Blacks can teach us about the business of life, James Kerr Google Teams From: https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful-google- team/ Leadership Extraordinary Leadership in Australia and New Zealand : The Five Practices That Create Great Workplaces By James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner, With Michael Bunting Psychological safety From: https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful-google- team/ Experiment Management 3.0: Leading Agile Developers, Developing Agile Leaders, Jurgen Appelo SCARF Model http://www.scarfsolutions.com/selfassessment.aspx Maslow’s Pyramid (Hierarchy of needs) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs Tuckman model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuckman%27s_stages_of_group_development Lean change Management http://leanchange.org/ Lean Change Management: Innovative Practices for managing Organisational change, Jason Little Team Charter (High Performance Tree) Coaching Agile Teams: A companion for Scrum masters, Agile Coaches, and project Managers in Transition, Lyssa Adkins 5 Dysfunctions of a team The five dysfunctions of a team: A leadership Fable, Patrick Lencioni
- 35. ReferencesforAAMetaMentalModel: Me andOrganization 5 exemplarypractices of Leadership 1. Model the way 2. Encourage the heart 3. Challenge the process 4. Enable others to act 5. Inspire a shared vision • Extraordinary Leadership in Australia and New Zealand : The Five Practices That Create Great Workplaces By James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner, With Michael Bunting Reinventing Organisations Reinventing Organisations: A guide to creating organisations inspired by the next stage of human consciousness, Frederic Laloux
- 36. General References andBackground Reading Agile Base Patterns in the Agile Canon, Daniel Greening, https://www.computer.org/csdl/proceedings/hicss/2016/5670/00/5670f368.pdf Help employees create knowledge – not just share it, John Hagel II and John Seely Brown, https://hbr.org/2017/08/help-employees-create-knowledge-not-just-share-it SCG’s Agile Transformation Approach, Ahmed Sidky A 2x2 Matrix to help you prioritise the skills to learn right now, Marc Zao-Sanders, https://hbr.org/2017/09/a-2x2-matrix-to-help-you-prioritize-the-skills-to-learn- right-now High Performance via Psychological Safety, Joshua Kerievsky https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/high-performance-via-psychological-safety- joshua-kerievsky/ Agile Coaching, Rachel Dabies and Liz Sedley FYI™ for Learning Agility 2nd Edition, Korn Ferry Learning how to learn MOOC from Coursera, https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn Mindshift MOOC from Coursera, https://www.coursera.org/learn/mindshift/ Forget About setting goals. Focus on this instead, James Clear, http://jamesclear.com/goals-systems Differences between Busy people and productive people, Connor Neil, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/11-differences-between-busy-people- productive-conor-neill/
- 37. General References andBackground Reading How to use the Feynman Technique to Learn Faster, Thomas Frank, https://collegeinfogeek.com/feynman-technique/ Bounce, Matthew Syed, https://whywhathow.xyz/book-crunch-bounce-matthew-syed/ Business articles: • http://www.nzherald.co.nz/canvas- magazine/news/article.cfm?c_id=532&objectid=11407591 • https://globalnews.ca/news/3343760/the-cult-of-busyness-how-being-busy- became-a-status-symbol/ • https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/the-busy-trap/ Good Leaders and good Learners, Lauren Keating, Peter Heslin, Susan Ashford, https://hbr.org/2017/08/good-leaders-are-good- learners?referral=03759&cm_vc=rr_item_page.bottom Cognitive Biases cheat sheet, Buster Benson, https://betterhumans.coach.me/cognitive-bias-cheat-sheet-55a472476b18 Disciplined Agile Delivery, Scott Ambler and Mark Lines An Executive’s Guide to Disciplined Agile, Scott Ambler and Mark Lines Breaking Bias updated: The Seeds Model™, Matthew Liebermann, David Rock, Heidi Grant Halvorson and Christine Cox, Neuroleadership Journal, Volume Six, November 2015 Mental Models, Farnam Street Blog, https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/mental-models/ Putting lifelong learning on the CEO Agenda, McKinsey & Company, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our- insights/putting-lifelong-learning-on-the-ceo-agenda
- 38. General References andBackground Reading An Agile Adoption and Transformation Survival Guide: Working with Organisational Culture, Michael Sahota Enabling seamless lifelong learning journeys – the next frontier of digital education, McKinsey & Company, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our- insights/enabling-seamless-lifelong-learning-journeys-the-next-frontier-of- digital-education Getting ready for the future of work, McKinsey & Company, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our- insights/getting-ready-for-the-future-of-work The Neuroscience of Trust, Paul Zak, https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-neuroscience-of-trust Future of Work: Learning to Manage Uncertainty, Heather McHowan, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/learning-uncertainty-imperative-heather- mcgowan/ Building a Learning Organisation, David Garvin, https://hbr.org/1993/07/building-a-learning-organization Turning potential into success; The missing link in Leadership development, Claudio Fernandez-Araoz, Andrew Roscoe, and Kentaro Aramaki, Harvard Business Review November-December 2017
- 39. Some more VUCAtoconsider
- 40. Adding to VUCA:Leadership skills Gap • Jobs are getting bigger (More VUCA) • Supply of qualified talent is shrinking • Results in younger people getting placed in positions with greater responsibility and complexity earlier than in the past than their predecessors • Standard and Poors’ 500 – average age for starting CEO role has fallen since 2010 • Not getting enough time on the job to develop more complex skills than predecessors • Previous experience may not provide necessary insight into the future • VUCA will place leaders in situations that could challenge their current capabilities From: Becoming an Agile Leader, Victoria Swisher, 2012
- 41. Top 10 requiredskills In 2020 1. Complex problem solving 2. Critical thinking 3. Creativity 4. People management 5. Coordinating with others 6. Emotional intelligence 7. Judgement and decision making 8. Service orientation 9. Negotiation 10. Cognitive flexibility In 2015 1. Complex problem solving 2. Coordinating with others 3. People management 4. Critical thinking 5. Negotiation 6. Quality control 7. Service orientation 8. Judgement and decision making 9. Active listening 10. Creativity Source: Future of Jobs Report, World Economic Forum
- 42. Skills and Toolsfor Me and My Team
- 43. Survivaltoolsformeandmy teams: LearningAgilityTools Adapted fromthe Original by Pat Reed, 2016 Share and Explain – Teaching Agility, Knowledge Creation, Knowledge Networking, Organisation Capability Building, Creating Learning Organisations, Feynman Technique Explore Alternatives – Design Storming & Thinking; Innovation Games; Strategic Agility. Strategy Maps; Impact Maps, 5 Whys; Mind maps; OODA Loops; Canvases & Story Boards & Maps, Assessing Opportunities, Developing & Testing, Hypotheses, Metrics that Matter: Baselining & Benchmarking, Thin Slices; MVP, Managing Dilemmas & Paradoxes with Polarity Management, Decision Grid. Evaluate the learning – Learning Agility, Let Learning Lead, Appreciative Inquiry, Fierce Conversations, Empirical Data Driven Learning, Patterns, Reflections and Retrospectives, Self Renewing Cycle of Growth, Capability Building, Innovation, Celebration Grid Awareness – Visioning Agility; Empathy Maps, Focus & Clarity: A3’s & Personal Kanban, Lean Project Chartering; Eliminate Blind spots: Mental Models, NLP; Sense Making; Cynefin; Canvases, Expanding Awareness & Context: Envisioning, Value Modelling and Mapping; Value Stream Mapping, Adopting Agile Mindset and Breaking Paradigms, Visual Tools, Transparency & Information Radiators, Assessments & Alternate Perspectives. Implement via Experiments – Execution Agility; Putting People First, Complex Problem-Solving, Rapid Decision-Making, Building High Performing Teams, Business Process Re-engineering, Experimenting, Value Based Prioritisation, Project, Program, Product & Portfolio Mgmt., Operational Excellence, Creating a Learning Organisation, Fearless Follow-thru & Closure.
- 44. Skills and Toolsfor my Organisations
- 45. Survival tools formy organisation The Startup Way: How Modern Companies Use Entrepreneurial Management to Transform Culture and Drive Long-Term Growth – October 17, 2017 by Eric Ries Phase one: Critical Mass Phase two: Scaling Up Phase three: Deep Systems Team Level Start small, figure out what works and doesn’t for our company, touch a variety of divisions/ functions/ regions Scale up the number of teams, build programs and accelerators as needed. Include all divisions/ functions/ regions. This is “the way we work”, tools and training widely available to all kinds of teams. Not limited to high-uncertainty projects Division Level Enlist a small number of senior leaders as “champions” to make exceptions to company policies as needed Train all senior leaders, even those who are not directly responsible for innovation, so they have literacy in the new way. Establish Growth boards, innovation accounting, and strict accountability for all senior leaders to allocate resources to change Enterprise Level Get agreement with the most senior leaders about what success looks like (cycle time, morale, productivity). Focus on leading indicators. Establish criteria to move to Phase two. As word of successes starts to spread throughout the organisation, recruit early adopters at all levels Build a transformation organisation with heft. Develop coaches, a company-specific playbook, new finance and accountability tools like growth boards Tackle the hardest deep systems of the company: compensation and promotion, finance, resource allocation, supply chain, legal. Overall Goal Build critical mass to get senior leadership bought into rolling this out company-wide. Translate the Startup Way into company- specific culture Build organisational clout to have the political capital necessary to tackle the thorny issues of Phase three Build an organisational capability for continuous transformation
Editor's Notes
- #3 Needs a nice picture - Active learning through experiments and discussions - Paired learning - Teaching is learning
- #4 Who of you has kids? Please keep your hands up. Of those of you that have kids, how many of you have to deal with this daily? Ok, hands down please. Just out of curiosity, have any of you had a reply like that from your kids? NEITHER HAVE I! I have similar conversations daily with my children, but never had a reply like this. Recalling some high School physics, Entropy it is the tendency for any form of stable system or state to fall into increasing disorder. How many of you observe this in everyday life? and in your daily work? And in your organizations? We may be used to stable situations day in and day out, but what happens when we suddenly experience complexity, chaos or disorder? How do we make sense of it, and how do we behave?
- #5 Key points: So let’s have a look at our First Tool – who in the audience has heard of the Cynefin Framework? Pronounced Ku-nevin because it hails from the Welsh language – it literally means Habitat or Place – and if you think about it there’s nothing more complex than the place you come from – think about all the cultural, religious, geographical, demographic influences that made you who you are – that’s why we are so complicated Cynefin has been described as a “Sense making Device”. Its a framework helps decision makers identify how they perceive situations and how they may act in a given situation. Our neat and ordered world can fall into chaos fairly rapidly and test leaders require contextual understanding in order to adapt accordingly. Within the Cynefin framework: =================== There are Five domains of decision-making: simple, complicated, complex, chaotic, and at the centre the darkness of disorder. These domains offer decision makers a “sense of place” from which to analyse behaviour and decide how to act in certain situations. The domains on the right, simple and complicated, are “ordered”: cause and effect are known or can be discovered. The domains on the left, complex and chaotic, are “unordered”: cause and effect can be deduced only with hindsight or not at all. In the Ordered domains we have standard operating procedures, experts and experience available that we already rely on. Decisions are made using best or good practices. For this talk, we want to focus on what happens in the Unordered side of the Cynefin. We want to explore how Leaders could behave in the unordered domains when situations are Complex, Chaotic or Disordered. We are simplifying much of what we will be discussing – we hope that the talk inspires you to research the topics further once the talk is over. The danger exist in attempting to apply Traditional strategies and techniques to the Complex and Chaotic domains – it just can’t be done since the behaviour is either unknown or emergent. Many things can happen that pushes the situation into entropy, or the left, unordered side of the Cynefin. Collectively we call them VUCA: Volatility Uncertainty Complexity Ambiguity By following the law of entropy, leaders will increasingly experience VUCA, and tried and tested strategies and techniques as in the right hand side of Cynefin will simply not work any more. Let’s look at some of those VUCA things from recent trends So what are typical trends that can push us to the left, unordered side of the Cynefin? We’ll look at some of that next.
- #6 This chart comes from a recent McKinsey article called Creating an Agile organisation. They have been researching organisations and their preparedness to counter instability and disruption. As you can see, many organisations have enterprise wide transformations underway, especially in High tech and to some degree in Telecommunications and organisations under more threat such as media and entertainment, financial services. Many other industries are being pulled along by disruption happening in other industries, i.e. changes in telecommunications, high tech and retail fuel increased expectations from consumers in other sectors.
- #7 How much time a week do you think you spend on actual valuable work? 1-10 hours 11-20 hours 21-30 hours 31-40 hours Research suggests that, on average, managers have fewer than seven hours per week of uninterrupted time to do deep versus shallow work They spend the rest of their time attending meetings, sending e-communications or working in time increments of less than 20 minutes Busyness drains energy, equals less innovation and engagement Labour Productivity - measure of how efficiently inputs (capital and labour) are used in the economy to produce outputs – (goods and services), has been declining over the last 5 years and sits at less than 1% per annum Perhaps explained by the fact that only 14% of employees are engaged in their jobs and showing up to work enthusiastic and motivated to be highly productive Sources for these stats: Manager Productivity: https://hbr.org/2017/04/employee-burnout-is-a-problem-with-the-company-not-the-person NZ Labour productivity rate: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/nz-progress-indicators/home/economic/labour-productivity.aspx Gallup: State of the Global workplace report: http://news.gallup.com/reports/220313/state-global-workplace-2017
- #8 The version one state of agile report that is published annually is a good way to understand what happens in the world of agile. From looking back on previous reports, the top 5 challenges has not changed much over the last 3 years. That trend tells us one of two things: Organisations are not able to realise/ articulate their state of VUCA Organisations are not able to deal effectively with, or manage VUCA effectively We believe that all these challenges have got one thing in common: Leadership Agility. In order to prove that, let us present you with a Hypothesis.
- #10 Please note that this is the A and A Leadership survival guide, not to be confused with AA, Automobile association although we’ll hopefully provide a visual map or two, or the other AA organisation, Alcoholics Anonymous even though a beer or two was consumed in the preparation of this talk.
- #11 We needed to understand how far learning and leadership stretches in people’s contexts. For that we combined multiple mental models into one large meta model. We categorised the relevant behaviours, tools and models in three layers: Me, My teams and My organisations We chose plurals for team and organisation as we are all involved with different teams and organisations to some degree or other. One of the teams may be at work, another may be your family or sport team you are involved with. The same applies to organisations; One of these organisations may be your employer, and another may be a club or an association you are part of outside your work environment. We will not be spending much time on the organisational elements in this talk, that is a whole series of talks on its own! The primary focus is to consider where the biggest impact can be, and that is the Me and the My Teams layers. Some individuals will have more influence at the organisational level, where most of us will have more influence at the Me and My teams layers.
- #12 It all starts with me My purpose will be the compass by which I clarify and live my values We are all leaders Reiterate about VUCA. Industry gets disrupted, job gets disrupted or change jobs We don’t have time to deep dive on new required skills so we need a different set of tools than the traditional ways of learning, i.e. classroom training or extensive reading This section covers the survival and transformation skills and tools for me to cope with increased VUCA, entropy
- #13 One of the first and easiest way to survive as a leader is to develop thinking and memory skills. We recently completed an online MOOC course through Coursera called “learning how to learn”. It is the most popular courses on Coursera and with good reason. We recommend it as the tools and skills in the course helps to give you easy access to the invaluable learning techniques used by experts in art, music, literature, math, science, sports, and many other disciplines. We recommend this course. Chunking Focused and Diffused thinking modes: FOCUSED MODE is just what is sounds like, a concentrated, focused form of thinking DIFFUSED MODE is a more relaxed thinking state, one where the brain settles into at resting. An analogy involves visualizing your brain as a flashlight; Diffused mode of thinking could be thought of as a setting on the flashlight designed to cast a broad light not very strongly, while focused mode would cast a very strong light in smaller area. This picture is of Salvadore Dali (and his pet ocelot). “Dali used to have an interesting technique to help him come up with his fantastically creative surrealist paintings. He'd relax in a chair and let his mind go free, often still vaguely thinking about what he had been previously focusing on. He'd have a key in his hand, dangling it just above the floor. And as he would slip into his dreams, falling asleep, the key would fall from his hand [SOUND] and the clatter would wake him up, just in time so he could gather up those diffuse mode connections and ideas in his mind. And off he'd go back into the focused mode bringing with him the new connections he'd made while in the diffuse mode.” Get enough sleep One additional way that neuroscientists all agree on, in how to improve your thinking and memory skills is to get enough sleep. By sleeping, the brain is able to flush toxins between its tissues. If you do not sleep, these toxins build up and impair your thinking and memory skills. Re-order chunks. I’ll sleep on it is not just a nice metaphor. Reference mental models – the chunks should be grouped into mental models
- #14 Reading about successful leaders across the world, its seems that all of them have got one thing in common: They are ferocious readers. The read at least 2 books a month! Reading is also a key gateway to learning. Simply by reading something we are able to embed it into our world. So, learning is a key leadership survival skill. The famous futurist, Alvin Toffler said that “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn”. Learning becomes a key skill for any leader. Learning is the secret sauce to survival. Korn Ferry a US based Leadership and Talent research firm published some research on 2014 on Learning agility or an individual’s ability to continually acquire new skills, learn from experience, face new challenges, and perform well under changing conditions. They have found that learning agility is a strong and valid predictor of successful leadership—more important even than IQ, emotional intelligence, or education level. Why? People who are learning agile more readily absorb new skills, behaviors, and insights—and then carry those forward to perform successfully, especially in unfamiliar situations. So when CEOs say their organization doesn’t have the capacity to change, adapt, innovate, or handle volatility, what they are sensing is usually a shortfall in learning agility among top teams or the whole workforce.
- #15 In her book, Victoria Swhisher indicates that the only way to deal with VUCA is through learning. And recently Scott Ambler and Mark Lines also emphasised learning as a key skill to be able to survive. Traditional learning practices are no longer effective Learning does not stop with reading Life around us provides opportunities to learn, this is called active learning How do we improve the effectiveness and value of our active learning? But learning does not just stop when you read, events around us also provide opportunities to learn. Those events are not written down in books, and we need additional learning skills to learn from real life experiences. We also perform learning naturally from day to day or in situations, but how can we do so in a more focussed manner? Let us look at those skills next. Learning Agility is a key skill for us to learn from situations as they evolve. This skill will help us to use learning to move out of the unordered domains to the ordered domains in the Cynefin framework. Learning agility give us a way of focusing on consistent, incremental and systematic learning to cope with the shifting sands that we are faced with as individuals, teams and organisations. We will depend on learning agility in those highly entropic, complex, disorderly or chaotic domains where there are no prescribed or standard operating procedures. We will utilize learning agility in those situations where the cause and effect is not known or can only be worked out in hindsight. Learning agility consist of 5 steps; 1. Awareness 2. Explore Alternatives 3. Implement 4. Evaluate the learning 5. Share and explain Awareness We all have mechanisms abilities to develop an awareness of something. Explore Alternatives In this step you will think of a range of possible approaches or experiments you could run with meaningful measures Implement via Experiments This is the step where you press play and implement the experiment (s) and capture the metrics from the measures you created earlier. Evaluate the learning Where we evaluate or interpret the outcomes and metrics of the action taken. We would capture and evaluate the learning; What did you learn, what worked well and were there any unexpected side effects – were they beneficial or negative. Share and Explain The last step, share and explain, consolidates the learning an integral part of the learning process and this is where you actively share the learning and insights generated during the Evaluate the learning step. There can be many ways to share; You may present your findings to a group of peers, sharing what you have learned. Some of the discussions/ questions may provide additional insight and learning for the next learning cycle. From the above steps, it is clear that the learning did not stop. The experience in the first cycle of the 5 steps gave information to trigger the next cycle of learning. In any given environment there can be multiple spirals, some small and short, some long and continuous. A mature learning agility environment should have high density and frequency of visible learning spirals. Some spirals are short, some can be very long whereas some spiral spans a long time, some only a short amount of time. The potential is also there for spirals spinning off multiple new spirals.
- #16 Every cognitive bias is there for a reason — primarily to save our brains time or energy. If you look at them by the problem they’re trying to solve, it becomes a lot easier to understand why they exist, how they’re useful, and the trade-offs (and resulting mental errors) that they introduce. Problem 1: Too much information. There is just too much information in the world, we have no choice but to filter almost all of it out. Our brain uses a few simple tricks to pick out the bits of information that are most likely going to be useful in some way. Problem 2: Not enough meaning. The world is very confusing, and we end up only seeing a tiny sliver of it, but we need to make some sense of it in order to survive. Once the reduced stream of information comes in, we connect the dots, fill in the gaps with stuff we already think we know, and update our mental models of the world. Problem 3: Need to act fast. We’re constrained by time and information, and yet we can’t let that paralyze us. Without the ability to act fast in the face of uncertainty, we surely would have perished as a species long ago. With every piece of new information, we need to do our best to assess our ability to affect the situation, apply it to decisions, simulate the future to predict what might happen next, and otherwise act on our new insight. Problem 4: What should we remember? There’s too much information in the universe. We can only afford to keep around the bits that are most likely to prove useful in the future. We need to make constant bets and trade-offs around what we try to remember and what we forget. For example, we prefer generalizations over specifics because they take up less space. Nothing we do can make the 4 problems go away but if we accept that we are permanently biased, but that there’s room for improvement, confirmation bias will continue to help us find evidence that supports this, which will ultimately lead us to better understanding ourselves.
- #17 There are many tools to understand ourselves. Here are just 3 of those that you can use to understand yourself. SCARF model SCARF model, developed by neuroscientist, Dr. David Rock considers the threat and rewards systems in our brains across 5 dimensions. These are Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness and Fairness. This is a great model to understand our “triggers” and how we behave in situations based on the triggering of our threat or reward systems. Just as an example: I know from experience that one of my triggers is Fairness. Even if I am observing a situation from the outside! I experience strong threat or away reactions when that button is triggered. You will find as well in most cases situations can trigger 2 or more of these SCARF dimensions. SEEDs model We spoke in the previous slides about biases, and how we all have those biases. The Neuroleadership institute developed a model called the “SEEDs” model. This model helps you to identify and manage your biases. Previously we saw on the codex these biases were grouped into 4 types, but in the SEEDs model, it has been grouped into 5 main types: Similarity, Expedience, Experience, Distance and Safety. Knowing your biases will allow you much deeper capability Clarity of purpose If we don’t have a direction in life, we will not really get anywhere. In order to have that direction we require clarity of purpose. That clarity of purpose provides us with a compass to navigate out life and decisions by. The purpose must also be inspiring for yourself. Simon Sinek expanded his original book, “Start with Why” into some online resources. One of these resources is an online course, called the “Why discovery course”. Possible to share: (I have enrolled at this course and have found quite surprisingly that I like to explore new things and ideas so that we can find valuable and creative solutions. By giving this talk, I am able to live that purpose. ) By starting to use tools like this, we are able to understand ourselves better.
- #18 Lots of research into what makes a successful team and recently those views have been challenged and we’ll look at additional skills and tools to look alongside the old and new research Change Leadership
- #19 Talk about Experiment friendly or experiment safe Recognition and the psychology of recognition Clarity of Purpose
- #20 Quality over quantity = pareto principle
- #21 Getting back to learning agility in the team context, we learn not as individuals but also as teams. The same 5 steps apply as for individuals in the team context. Teams can apply intentional learning and practice learning agility by applying the following: Participate in Active Learning Be aware of the step currently being practiced visualize every step/ experiment (perhaps have a Kanban Board in which you cycle the cards/ items through the learning cycle) Have multiple tools available to perform at every step. Celebrate the learning Keep the environment fail safe
- #22 Learning decision matrix It is not possible to learn everything about everything With high VUCA, we are under pressure to learn the right stuff Matrix measures time against utility or value (Based on a Cost-benefit analysis) 4 Blocks: Learn it right awa Schedule a block of time to learn it Learn it as the chance arises, such a commute, lunch, and so on Decide if it is worth learning Celebration Grid Learning from the experiments Celebrating the learning you did Learning from both successes and Failures How could you use this tools in active learning? How could you visualize the learning? In a learning Kanban like this one You can map out the steps of the learning agility spiral And then have a continuous flow of mental model sub topics through the learning Kanban.
- #23 So what exactly are A3 reports? A3 reports are a way of structuring and sharing knowledge that enables teams and their members to practice scientific thinking as a way of discovering and learning together. The tool promises immediate benefits by helping people structure and design more effective approaches to problems (framing them in solvable ways, taking a data-based approach, using root-cause-analysis to find the point of origin for problems (gaps), encouraging careful problem analysis over quick abstract “solutions,” and so forth). A3s encourage root cause analysis, reveal processes, and represent goals and actions in a format that triggers conversation and learning. There are many A3s or Canvases available freely, an example being the Opportunity Canvas recently developed and made available by Jeff Patton. I have used a variant of this to design training programs and it has worked brilliantly as a way of crisply communicating the intent / need and plan for developing this. A3’ when used well can replace long detailed reports that consume unnecessary time to create and consume. A3’s and an experimental mindset go very well together. Also the Cynefin framework can help navigate the different situations one might apply using A3 thinking.
- #24 Getting back to learning agility in the team context, we learn not as individuals but also as teams. The same 5 steps apply as for individuals in the team context. Teams can apply intentional learning and practice learning agility by applying the following: Participate in Active Learning Be aware of the step currently being practiced visualize every step/ experiment (perhaps have a Kanban Board in which you cycle the cards/ items through the learning cycle) Have multiple tools available to perform at every step. Celebrate the learning Keep the environment fail safe
- #25 “The Prosci ADKAR Model is a goal-oriented change management model to guide individual and organizational change. Created by Prosci founder Jeff Hiatt, ADKAR is an acronym that represents the five outcomes an individual must achieve for change to be successful: awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, reinforcement®.”
- #27 Extraordinary Leadership in Australia and New Zealand is a fascinating book that looks at 5 practices and 10 commitments that create great workplaces. They have found that leaders that exhibit these practices have engagement scores that are 25 to 50% higher than those that don’t. We have touched on many of these practices in our talk, although we couldn’t cover all of them in depth so this would be a good read for those interested in learning more about their approach.
- #28 Learning agility in the organizational context can be a very dense subject in itself. Learning organizations have proven to outperform other organizations. Organizations have to accept that they will be required to continuously learn. In any given environment there can be multiple spirals, some small and short, some long and continuous. A mature learning agile environment should have high density and frequency of visible learning spirals.
- #29 Extraordinary Leadership in Australia and New Zealand is a fascinating book that looks at 5 practices and 10 commitments that create great workplaces. They have found that leaders that exhibit these practices have engagement scores that are 25 to 50% higher than those that don’t. We have touched on many of these practices in our talk, although we couldn’t cover all of them in depth so this would be a good read for those interested in learning more about their approach.
- #30 AC to fix animation The virtuous cycle: If you want to great performance from your team you must lead them. Doing this well, in turn results them in assessing you as an effective leader. Link modern agile to Learning Agility.
- #31 Needs a nice picture
- #32 AC: Look at Imagine question
- #35 Tidy up URL’s
- #36 Tidy up URL’s
- #37 Tidy up URL’s
- #38 Tidy up URL’s
- #39 Tidy up URL’s
- #41 Jobs are getting bigger (More VUCA) Supply of qualified talent is shrinking Results in younger people getting placed in positions with greater responsibility and complexity earlier than in the past than their predecessors Standard and Poors’ 500 – average age for starting CEO role has fallen since 2010 Not getting enough time on the job to develop more complex skills than predecessors Previous experience may not provide necessary insight into the future VUCA will place leaders in situations that could challenge their current capabilities
- #42 Reiterate about VUCA We don’t have time to deep dive on each one of these skills so we need a different set of tools than the traditional ways of learning, i.e. classroom training or extensive reading Book summaries
- #44 Tidy up URL’s