Brilliant Leaders – Our Best Hope?
ningcontentI, like millions of Americans, was glued to the coverage of President Obama’s inauguration on January 20, 2009 and have been watching the first moves of the new Administration almost as closely (Thank You Tivo!).
Looking back on the first few weeks of the new Administration, two questions come immediately to mind:
- Could an intelligent and charismatic leader really be the answer to all that ails our country?
- If the answer is yes, how do I get my name off all the articles I have written preaching that sustainable organizational success is never achieved by pinning our hopes on one single knight in shining armor?
The Leadership Debate
In the public and private sectors we like to place responsibility for organizational success squarely on the shoulders of the person at the top. (To be fair, we are equally quick to put 100% responsibility for organizational failure at the feet of the senior leader.)
Where would Microsoft be without Bill Gates? Jack Welch’s leadership style is still studied and imitated. Many think our ability to bounce back after the Great Depression was a result of FDR’s leadership.
While there is no doubt that Gates, Welch and FDR are/were great leaders, is their leadership success the result of their raw leadership talent and individual genius alone? Or is it something more? Can we really expect our new president, the millennium’s first leadership superstar, to leap a crumbling economy and a turbulent world-wide political scene in a single bound?
Even in the wake of inaugural enthusiasm, we are fairly certain the answer to both questions is a resounding “No!” Despite the common practice of attributing sustained success to a single individual or to a compelling vision, we know that while both vision and individual performance are critical to sustained success, alone they are not sufficient. It takes a village as they say.
Charisma vs. Decision Making Skills
In fact, if you look at any organization that has sustained success over the long haul the common denominator seems to be the ability to make good decisions rapidly. More specifically it is leadership’s ability to proactively enable their senior teams to work together, making the most complex business decisions even when the number of variables such as the global economic crisis (an external upset) is staggering.
Of course one could argue that great leaders have a knack for getting their teams to work together to make solid complex business decisions. No doubt they do. But the good news for those of us non-Barack Obamas or Jack Welches of the world is that it is relatively easy to prepare almost any senior management team to use the tools and processes that will enable them consistently to achieve these same levels of success.
Hope for All Leaders
Even run-of-the-mill CEOs can drive a process that enhances the decision-making effectiveness of their management teams by an order of magnitude. This strong improvement is the result of three straightforward steps.
1. Well before considering any possible solutions or interventions, decide whether the difficulty is due to what we refer to as a “linear” issue or “dynamic” complexity. That is, does the issue lend itself to a solution that relies on a formula – like balancing a check book – or are there many variables that keep changing, such as fixing the banking system?
2. Assign complex “linear” problems to your best individuals, and complex “dynamic” problems to united teams of your best people. Individuals are good at formulas, teams work best when the solution requires thoughtful analysis and multiple perspectives.
3. Ensure that your senior management team can address these dynamic challenges with a proactive set of decision-making tools, such as Scenario Planning, that any executive team can apply effectively within a matter of days.
Instead of assuming that the barrier to solving deeply complex and dynamic problems is insurmountable without a brilliant leader, take heart that the 3 steps outlined above, coupled with a few solid tools, such as Scenario Planning, Complexity Modeling, Causal Loop Diagramming, are the real keys to resolving crisis and creating sustained success.
If you would like to discuss how to improve the decision making and problem solving skills in your organization, please contact me at 781-343-4014 or pstimson@wsa-intl.com.
Dr. Paul Stimson is a recognized expert in teaching senior leaders to vastly improve their decision making and problem solving skills. He worked with Peter Senge, the author of The Fifth Discipline and senior lecturer at the System Dynamics Group at MIT Sloan School of Management, to develop a practical application of Systems Thinking for a leading insurance company. Since his seminal work with Mr. Senge, Paul has traveled the world helping organizations increase productivity and profitability through better decision making.
Article courtesy of Work Systems Affiliates
