In last week’s reading, Roxburgh argued that the “traditional” models of plan/execute will no longer work due to the complexity of today’s environment – there are too many variables and combinations/permutations of how things will evolve to use the “traditional models.” Roxburgh’s use of the evolution of the Internet was a good example to illustrate his point.
The observations of Roxburgh and Berry point to a fundamental concept that applies to all of us. We now live in a culture and time in which change is the norm. Change is not a discrete event nor does it always happen in a predictable or controllable way. We also have to change (pun intended) the way we understand and interpret change that doesn’t happen predictably – just because we did not predict something or control something does not mean that it should be evaluated negatively. In Roxburgh’s example of the growth and development of the Internet – the evolutionary path taken, while not predicted, is, in fact, a better outcome as a result of some of those unpredictable/unforeseen twists and turns taken.
For me personally, I will need to work on flexibility, developing and honing the ability to adapt to both new and changing events and circumstances. Recognizing that adapting and changing is not viewed negatively but a normal course of leadership behavior. Skills that will be helpful would be “learning on the fly” – the ability to go into this discontinuous new space and quickly figure out what needs to be done and go with it. It will also be necessary to adopt “thinking outside the box” as the new norm. Leading in “new space” will require new and different approaches and being open to consider doing things differently.