THE PRACTICE OF ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP

 Act courageously and engage in continued self-reflection to become agents of change

 Leadership -the practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges thrive.
 Main message: if the system is broken, it must be diagnosed and fixed by taking risks and challenging the status
quo in order to provoke change.
 Basic Assumptions:
o Adaptive leadership is about change that enables the capacity to thrive
o Adaptive change interventions build on the past rather than abandon it.
o Adaptive leadership relies on diversity and values diverse view.
o Org change happens thru experimentation
o New adaptations have the potential off significantly displacing, re-regulating, and re-arranging old
structure
o Adaptive change takes time

PART 1 – THEORY BEHIND PRACTICE

 Leadership is not a job or based on authority but can be done by anyone. It is radically different from doing a job
really well
 Adaptive leadership focuses on the need for change and disrupt status quo to incite forward momentum
 AL is rooted in leadership theory and scientific theory
o Adaptation comes from biology and evolution
o Adaptation requires consideration of the past and observing what can be changed/amended/removed
while still recognizing the “heritage” of an org.
o Adaptation relies on experimentation and diversity.
o Apatation is a risk – there is element of losses and time.
o Adaptive Process – Observe, Interpret, Intervene  Scientific process
 DIAGNOSE the challenges before acting and compare org to ecosystems
 Challenges
o Technical – definition clear, solution clear, locus of work is authority
o Adaptive - definition requires learning, solution requires learning, locus of work is stakeholders
o Technical and Adaptive - definition clear, solution requires learning, locus of work is authority and
stakeholders
o Technical challenges are those that can be solved by the knowledge of experts, whereas adaptive challenges are
complex and ambiguous in nature, and may be volatile or unpredictable. Solutions to this type of challenges usually
require people to learn new ways of doing things, change their attitudes, values and norms and adopt an
experimental mind-set.
 Pre-conditions of adaptive leader
o Get rid of the broken system’s illusion
o Distinguish technical problems from adaptive challenges
o Differentiate leadership from authority
o Learn to live in the productive zone of disequilibrium
o Observe, interpret, intervene
o Engage above and below the neck
o Connect to purpose
 Four steps before stepping into the process
o Don’t do it alone – involve others and distribute
o Best leadership laboratory is life itself
o Resist the leap of action and stay reflective like Mandela, Mo. Theresa, and Gandhi
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 o Make the hard choices and enjoy it

PART 2 – DIAGNOSE THE SYSTEM

 Learn your organization. Assess how it responds and operates to adapt.
 Consider: Structure, Culture, and defaults
 Unique characteristics of adaptive challenges:
o Input and output are non-linear
o Formal authority is insufficient
o Different factions each want different outcomes
o Previously high successful protocol seems antiquated
 Diagnose the Adaptive Challenges
o Separate problem’s technical elements from adaptive elements by looking at signals
 Cycle failure
 Persistent dependence on authority
o Look beyond what people are saying about adaptive challenges and identifying flags
 Persistent gap between aspirations and reality (complaints describe current situation)
 Response with current problems inadequate (internal and external experts cannot solve the
problem)
 Difficult learning required (frustration and stress manifests. Failures frequent than usual.
Traditional problem solving techniques not working)
 New stakeholders across boundaries need to be engaged (rounding up the usual suspects to
address issues has not produced success)
 Longer time frame necessary (problem persists and re-appears after short-term fix)
 Disequilibrium experienced as sense of crisis starting to be felt (increasing conflict and chaos and
tension. Willingess to try something new becomes widespread due to urgent needs)
o Distinguish challenges from four archetypes
 Gap on values and behavior
 Competing commitments
 Speaking of the unspeakable
 Diagnose the Political Landscape
o Identify stakeholders stake, desired outcome, level of engagement, and degree of power and influence
o Identify stakeholder’s values, loyalties, losses at risk, and hidden alliances (ally? Support? Resistor?)
o Why resistance to change? Fear od losing something important i.e. odentity, competence, comfort,
security, money, power, control, status, time
 Five Characteristics of adaptive orgs
o Elephants in the room are named – no taboo on topics. Everyone is open
o Responsibility for org’s future is shared – not only the “now”
o Independent judgment is expected – everyone can handle problems. Not concentrated to the managers
o Leadership capacity is developed – healthy pipeline of talent. Succession. Learning and development
o Reflection and continuous learning are institutionalized – new ways to tackle problems and to solve
them. Adapting to times.

PART 3 – IN MAKING ACCURATE INTERPRETATIONS

 People tend to gravitate to technical rather than adaptive interpretations
 Reframe the group’s default interpretation (from technical/easy to challenging/adaptive)
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  Generate multiple interpretations
 Audition your ideas: brainstorming/dumping
 Generate variety of interpretations

 Signs of unproductive interpretations

o If we only had better direction from the CEO
o Well have this worked out in no time (problem rather than symptom mentality)
o This will be an easy fix (technical/not adaptive)
o This will be a win-win (non-consideration of those opposing)
 Other Factors of Mobilizing the System
o Act Politically
 Expand informal authority (accountability and responsibility. Empowerment
 Stay connected to opposition
 Manage authority
 Engage voice of dissent
o Orchestrate the Conflict
 Create a holding environment selecting participants from different groups
 Control the temp
 Give work back to people
o Build an Adaptive culture
 Nurture shared responsibility for the org
 Encourage independent judgment
 Develop leadership capacity
 Create a learning organization

PART 4 – DEPICTING YOUR ROYALTIES

 To see yourself as a system, you should:
o Identify your many identities – the role you play
o Identify and prioritize loyalties – examine colleagues, community, and ancestors
o Know your tuning – know your triggers, hungers and expectations
o Broaden your bandwidth and tolerance – patience!
o Understand your roles – and know scope of authority
o Articulate your purposes and prioritize them
 Let yourself be silently drawn to the stronger pull of what you really love
 Personalize Adaptive Challenges

PART 5 – DEPLOY YOURSELF

 Negotiate the ethics of leadership and purpose – calculate intervention’s damage to others. Assess damage to
yourself and espoused values. DO means justify the end?
 Keep purposes alive – thru physical reminders and rituals
 Negotiate your purposes – not a straight line. You can deviate a little to give way to others but make sure to go
back
 Integrate your ambitions and aspirations
 Avoid going blind and deaf, becoming a martyr, and being the self-appointed chief purpose officer -hindi lang
ikaw yan
 What makes a tough decision?

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 o It is a close call – two alternatives with different strengths and weaknesses and only one can be
implemented
o Choose between known and unknown – unknown might be better or worse
o Doing the right thing could incur significant losses – unknown if losses are worth it. Divest business but
repercussion is layoff affect company image
o Several of your values are in conflict – one value must be subordinated. Value is consensus decision
making but deadlock on the issue
 To inspire people – ask people to open their hearts. Inspire people have huge bearing
 Run experiments – don’t be afraid to try different iterations of leadership
o Take more risk
o Exceed your authority
o Identify your contribution and difficulty

PART 5 - THRIVE
 Grow personal support network – find friends and confidants, do what you love to do
 Create sanctuaries / personal environment where you can restore yourself
 Renew yourself – be resilient during shocks. Renewal is an active process of removing the scar from the downfall
and returning to the journey. Renewal required transformation of the heart, the gut , and the head.

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