Leading in a vuca world terrell

 2013 Aspire Consulting, Inc.
Leading in a VUCA World
SPQA, September 16, 2014

“May you live in interesting times.”
寧為太平犬，不做亂世人
~ Ancient Chinese curse ~
2

Complexity
3
1. Over the past two years, complexity in our
organization and environment has . . .
Decreased / Stayed the Same Increased Significantly
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2. Over the next two years, complexity in our
organization and environment will . . .
Decrease / Stay the Same Increase Significantly
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Change
4
1. Over the past two years, the amount of change in
our organization and environment has . . .
Decreased / Stayed the Same Increased Significantly
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2. Over the next two years, the amount of change in
our organization and environment will . . .
Decrease / Stay the Same Increase Significantly
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

VOLATILITY
UNCERTAINTY
COMPLEXITY
AMBIGUITY
Interesting Times: It’s a VUCA World

Leading in a VUCA World
What do leaders need to do to successfully
and effectively lead in this VUCA world?
6

Learning Agility: The Silver Bullet
There is one secret for success; it’s called
Learning Agility.
KNOWING WHAT TO DO
WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO

High-Impact Talent – A Strategic Business Imperative
“Developing leaders and high potential
talent has become a strategic necessity if an
organization is to succeed long-term”
February 2011
Leadership Agility: A Business
Imperative for a VUCA* World
*Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity
Self-awareness was found to be the #1 predictor of
executive success – Cornell University Study in 2010

Boardroom Perspective

“Learning Agility has been a key
element to step change how we talk
about our talent, how we
assess/differentiate, and how we
deploy our talent.”
“Learning Agility has allowed us to focus on what
matters most when it comes to development and
better matching talent to specific
opportunities—be it new roles, projects, etc.”
Learning Agility is being used in:
Fortune Top 50: 40%
Fortune Top 100: 40%
Fortune 500: 23%
Global Top 50: 28%
Global 500: 20.2%
Learning Agility has quickly emerged as the
most valid and reliable predictor of high
potential leaders and executive success today
(more important, even, than IQ, emotional
intelligence, or education level). Why? People
who are learning agile more readily learn
new skills and behaviors and carry forward
that learning to perform successfully in a
diverse mix of situations.
Buyouts Magazine, November 2012
The Importance of Agility
“Given the dramatic changes in how work gets
prioritized, communicated and carried out, HR's
challenge is to feed leadership pipelines with people
who can adapt "on a dime."
HR Executive Magazine cover story, Jan/Feb 2013
Learning Agile Leaders:
• get promoted faster and more often than
their peers
• advance closest to the top
• are recognized as having the most potential
for advancement
• are rated more competent
• achieve greater success after a promotion to
a new role
• earn higher salaries
Korn/Ferry Research findings

In a VUCA world, the race doesn’t go to the
swift, strong, or smart . . .
. . . the race goes to the most adaptable,
who learn from experience and co-evolve
with the complex adaptive systems within
which they work and live.
11

RESEARCH ON LEARNING AGILITY

?
What behaviors are most
important for executive
success?
Why do executives derail?
Primary Research
Two major research streams from seminal work at
the Center for Creative Leadership and ongoing
Korn/Ferry studies.

Supporting Research
14
– Lombardo & Eichinger (2000) indicated that learning
how to deal effectively with first-time or changing situations is
more predictive of long-term potential or performance than is raw
intelligence.
– Sternberg et. al. (2003) identified street smarts (or
learning from experience) as far more correlated with level
attained in organizations than IQ… and reported that a revised
college admissions test that measures practical and creative
problem solving skills did better at predicting college success
than current SAT and GPAs.
– Bennis & Thomas (2002) describe the signature skill of
leaders as the ability to process new experiences… and to
integrate them into their life.

Have You Seen Agile Learners?
• Keen observers of themselves,
others & situations
• They compare things, search
for parallels, look at history
• Have resilience and optimism
regarding change
• Resourceful under tough
conditions, inspiring others to
perform beyond normal
• They make sense through “rules
of thumb”
• Open to the ideas and opinions
of others
• Willing to learn from
feedback, and willing to admit
to weaknesses
• Think “more” in comparison to
others: more ways to handle
situations, more things to learn,
more ways to achieve it, etc.
The Leadership Machine

Have You Seen Agile Learners?
Eventually, as Sternberg’s research
indicates, they pile up at the top of
organizations.
They accumulate more diverse
experiences, spend far more time making
sense of them, and as a result develop
more skills and perform better.
CCL studies were similar.

Traditional Learning
• Intelligence, IQ
• School grades, position in class
• Scores on tests
• Functional/technical skills
• Verbal skills
• Analytical/Data crunching skills
• Straightforward problem solving

Agile Learning
• Conceptually complex
• Curiosity/initiative
• Emotionally intelligent
• Street smart/wise
• Asks “why and how?”
• Rules/principles
• Broad range of perspective

Learning to Learn and IQ
• IQ leads to analytical skills and acquiring new
technical knowledge. IQ is a must to get into
the game.
• However, IQ doesn’t lead to acquiring new
behaviors. Learning agility is essential to long
term success in organizations.
• The best predictor of long term success is
ability to learn from experience.

Learners
20
Conventional intelligence
Grades/test scores
Functional/technical skills
Analytical skills
Straightforward problem-solving
Quick thinkers
Initiative/curiosity
Fresh connections
Principles/rules of thumb
Broad-range thinking
Traditional Agile

Those with a
Mastery
orientation are
superior performers in
similar jobs/functions
year after year.
Those with high
Learning Agility are
those who perform well in
first time, challenging
situations—often, in a
variety of very different
jobs.
TALENT

Promotable within
own or similar
functions, may not
aspire to broader
management
“We’regoingtobe
intheHudson”
Capt Chesley(Sully)Sullenberger,
Pilot,USAirways(retired)
Going Deep
• Recognized functional, technical, managerial expert
• Knows current job extremely well so can be counted
on; difficult to replace in kind
• Superior performers year after year in similar
jobs/roles/functions
• Works independently with little or no supervision
• Excellent at developing people
• Can be counted on as a trusted resource within the
organization
• Widely recognized outside the company

Promotable outside
their areas, especially
into general
management and senior
leader roles
“EverydayI’mlearning
somethingnew”
SirRichardBranson,
Founder–VirginGroup
Going Broad
• Easily learns new functions
• Clever problem solver; thinks strategically
• Performs well under new, first-time, or
tough conditions*
• Changes behavior or approach easily
• Has wide interests (highly curious)
• Deals well with ambiguity/complexity
• Thrives on change; likes to try different
approaches
• Impatient, doesn’t accept the status quo

Learning Mastery: Growing in Depth
• Engaged and passionate about the job
• Understands key strengths and weaknesses
• Delivers performance results
• Continues developing skills
• Interested in learning
• Focused on growing a career
• Diligent, determined, perseveres at learning
within the field/function
• Embraces structure, quality, consistency
• Follows procedure, policies, norms
• Enhances and deepens expertise

Learning Agility: Growing in Breadth
• Engaged and passionate about the job
• Understands key strengths and weaknesses
• Delivers performance results
• Continues developing skills
• Focused on growing a career
• Embraces uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity
• Resourceful, risk taking, bored with routine
• Views the big picture

Depth Breadth
• Diligent,
determined,
perseveres at
learning w/in the
field/function
• Embraces
structure, quality,
consistency
• Follows
procedure,
policies, norms
• Enhances and
deepens
expertise
• Embraces
uncertainty,
complexity,
ambiguity
• Resourceful, risk
taking, bored
with routine
• Views the big
picture
Similar Between Depth and Breadth?
BOTH can be:
• Engaged and passionate
about the job
• Understand key strengths
and weaknesses
• Deliver performance
results
• Continue developing skills
• Focused on growing a
career

Magic Multiplier
27
Potential
Learning
AgilityRaw
Material
The “Right Stuff”
Competency
Building
Experiences
Raw Material
Intelligence (IQ),
character,
career motivation
Learning Agility
The ability and
willingness to learn
from experience
Experiences
Job changes, in-place
assignments,
hardships, people,
feedback, courses,
workshops, readings:
(70:20:10)
development
Potential
• Capability to move and
effectively perform several
positions/levels above the
current roles
• Capability to take on
broader scope, new, and
challenging responsibilities

Learning Agility
Is related to…
Potential.
Performance once promoted
outside their area.
The ability to handle
tough, new assignments.

29
Learning Agile leaders step out of their comfort zone.

©2011 Korn/Ferry International
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED3
0
The ABILITY and
WILLINGNESS to
learn from experience
and subsequently apply
that learning to perform
successfully under new
and challenging
situations.
What is Learning Agility?

Learning Agility Factors
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SELF-AWARENESS
Insightful, reflective, clearly
understands personal strengths and
weaknesses, actively seeks feedback,
sensitive of impact on others
RESULTS AGILITY
Delivers results (even in tough
situations), resourceful,
inspiring, has significant
presence, builds high
performing teams
PEOPLE AGILITY
Can work easily with a diversity of
people, politically agile, skilled
communicator, manages
interpersonal conflict well
MENTAL AGILITY
Comfortable with complexity
and ambiguity, finds solutions
to tough problems, broad
interests, highly curious
CHANGE AGILITY
Constant tinkerer (never
satisfied), introduces novel
perspectives, enjoys leading
change efforts, willingly takes
heat of any resistance to change

Mental
Are very curious.
Get to the root causes.
Have a broad perspective.
Find parallels and contrasts.
Question conventional wisdom.
Find solutions to tough
problems.
agility
Those with this type of
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
3
2 32

People
Understand others.
Are skilled communicators.
Enjoy helping others succeed.
Are comfortable with diversity.
Handle conflict constructively.
Use others effectively.
agility...
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
3
3 33

Change
Enjoy tinkering with things.
Often introduce new perspectives.
Strive for continuous improvement.
Can take the heat and pressure of change.
Understand impact of change and how to manage it.
agility...
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
3
4 34

Results
Build high-performing teams.
Are very flexible and adaptable.
Perform well in first-time situations.
Driven by challenge.
Accomplish things against the odds.
agility...
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
3
5 35

Self-Awareness
Actively seek feedback.
Tend to be self-reflective.
Is candid to a fault about self.
Sensitive to their impact on others.
Know personal strengths and weaknesses.
Take corrective action based on feedback
agility...
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
3
6 36

”Let’s look beyond the
obvious…"
"I was curious to see if
there were similarities or
contrasts between this
problem and…"
"Another way to
look at this is…"
Name the Agility: Verbal Cues
37

“Let’s stick with
the proven
approach..."
"This is risky —
I want to be
certain that we
get it right…"
"It’s plain to see
what the solution
is…"
Those who demonstrate Mental Agility less often
38

Name the Agility (HINT: It may not be example of “High”)
“His position just doesn’t
make sense based on what I
know to be right…”
“We wasted so much
time talking about her
weekend that I was late
for my next meeting…”
“Let’s just agree
to disagree...”
39

“Let me see if I
understand
your position
…”
“Really enjoyed our chat
yesterday! Speaking of
that, what do you think of
this idea to help out your
situation…?”
“What are your
ideas on this…?”
Those Higher on the People Agility continuum
40

"I’ve been reflecting on how
I might have handled that
situation differently …"
"I’d love to get your
perspective on how I
came across in that
meeting…"
"This continues to be a
problem area for me. If
I’m going to reach my
goal, I need to keep
working on…"
Name the Agility
41

"I’m lucky;
things just
seem to usually
work out for
me…"
"It doesn’t do any
good to engage in a
lot of hand-wringing
about what went
wrong…"
"I know what’s
best for me..."
Those who demonstrate Self-Awareness less often:
42

“I followed standard project
protocol… It took a lot of
time.”
“They didn’t say a word
to me about new policy.
So I waited.”
“Tell me
what you want –
specific and clear.”
Name the Agility:
43

“I know it looks bad, but
let’s not give up yet…”
“I enjoy working on a lot
of things at once….”
“I’m not going to take it
personally...”
Those higher on the Results Agility continuum:
44

“I spent all day and all
night thinking of
better ways to finish this
project”
“Why can’t it be done…?
“OK, so this didn’t work.
What did we learn that
we can apply…?”
Name the Agility:
45

“This is how we
have always
done it…”
“There is a lot to consider
before moving forward
with this”
“If it ain’t broke,
don’t fix it…”
Those lower on the Change Agility continuum:
46

So Why Should You Care?
are victimized by past successes.
have blind spots.
have undevelopedor untestedcompetencies.
fail at relationships and transitions.
can’t relinquish control.
seem to have quit learning.
Many EXECUTIVES DERAIL because they:
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
4
7 47

DO ALL JOBS REQUIRE
LEARNING AGILITY?
48

Individual Activity
How much of your role is dependent on each of
the five factors? Rank order (1 through 5) each
of the 5 factors
(1 – the most,
5 – the least)
Mental Agility
People Agility
Change Agility
Results Agility
Self-Awareness

Group Activity
In what roles/jobs does Learning Agility really
matter? How much? Use flipchart to brainstorm.
Divide Room:
– Jobs that require Mastery /
Depth
– Jobs that require Agility /
Breadth
On a flipchart:
• Make a list of the jobs
• Be ready to defend or debate
• Elect someone to present
• Full group debrief
50

Individual Activity
For your job…
Use the Learning Agility Job
Scale tool to determine the
level that’s needed in a given
role.
51

• It is NOT about high versus low, good versus bad
• It is about your preference for breadth vs. depth
• It is HOW you learn from experience, not WHETHER
you learn at all
• It is about what adds VALUE in your role and
organization
• It is about what career GOALS you have and what
motivates you to get there
KEY MESSAGES:

LEARNING MORE ABOUT LEARNING
AGILITY
53

• Article “High Potentials as High Learners”
• Article “Learning Agility: A Construct Whose Time Has Come”
• Proof Point “What is Smarter than IQ?”
• Technical Report “Criterion- Related Validity of viaEDGE
Assessment: Findings from Two Recent Field Studies”
• Technical Report “The Development and Validation of a Self
Assessment of Learning Agility”
• Technical Report ” Test-Retest Reliability Analysis of viaEDGE
Assessment”
• Whitepaper “Using Learning Agility to Identify High Potentials
Around the World”
Learning Agility Readings
54

Developing Learning Agility
• Becoming an Agile Leader: A Guide
to Learning From Your Experiences
(guide)
• Becoming an Agile Leader: Know
What To Do... When You Don’t
Know What To Do (book)
55

How do we measure Learning Agility?
Choices™
Learning From
Experience™
viaEDGE™
Assessment
Content
 Assesses five factors, 27
dimensions of learning
agility
 Five factors are: Mental
Agility, People Agility,
Change Agility, Results
Agility, and Self Awareness
 Assesses five factors of
learning agility
 Five factors are: Mental Agility,
People Agility, Change Agility,
Results Agility, and Self
Awareness
 Assesses five factors of learning
agility
 Five factors are: Mental Agility,
People Agility, Change Agility,
Results Agility, and Self
Awareness
 Plus several verification scales
such as self presentation and
response consistency scales
Assessment
Methodology
A multi-rater assessment tool
that can be administered through
several methods such as online
survey or paper questionnaire
A structured interview using a
standardized interview protocol
A self report assessment that can be
administered through online survey
Assessment for
Selection
Requires raters to have adequate
knowledge about the ratees, thus
can only be used for assessing
internal candidates
Can be used to interview both
internal and external candidates
Can be used to assess internal and
external candidates
Assessment for
Development
In-depth assessment down to
item level, therefore provide
greater insight into an individual’s
relative strengths and
developmental needs than
viaEDGE™
Generally not used for development
purposes, but does yield rich
examples of how an individual
applies his or her learning
A broad assessment of learning
agility that identifies strengths or
weaknesses in general terms, and
help to direct the development
effort. Factor level only.
56

Thank You!
steve@aspireconsulting.net
757-647-2571
57

Leading in a vuca world terrell

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