Applying complexity theory to leadership has been a revelation on the idea of cause and effect. Obolensky is quick to point out that “a very small change within a complex system can produce a very large difference to what would have otherwise happened. In other words, when a situation has a great sensitivity to initial conditions a small change can have a disproportionate effect.” (Obolensky, 2010, p. 70) There are two examples that I can point out within my organization where small changes have yielded large results.
The first example was back when I used to work on the flight line where our main goal was to produce aircraft sorties. Hoch and Kunreuther point out that “time perception affects both the decision-making process and the resultant decision. It naturally follows then that members of cultures with different time perceptions may differ in their decision-making processes and outcomes.” (Hoch & Kunreuther, 2005, p. 105) In translation what this means is that if leadership gives the impression that there is no time and that aircraft needed to be fixed yesterday, it leads to poor decision making and quick band-aid fixes from the maintainers. Then when jets keep braking, top leadership puts pressures on lower leadership, who then reflects that pressure onto the maintainers, who end up constantly working within a high-stress environment. Aircraft don’t get good fixes, things break more and more often, and repeat recur rates of pilot reported discrepancies go through the roof. This is an example where small pressures from top leadership can trickle down to lower levels and cause havoc and chaos.
The other example is based on the same story but this time with new leadership. When the new leadership came in they realized that something needed to be done. So they got everyone together and said that the new priorities are shifting from getting aircraft fixed fast to getting them fixed right, the first time. They were willing to sacrifice a sortie for a good fix rather than a quick one. For a little while, culturally nothing changed because everyone was used to the old culture. However over time you could noticeably see the change in leadership viewpoints slowly start to trickle downward. Over the course of a few months, repeat recur rates had gone down, less aircraft were braking, and overall stress levels were deteriorating. This is an example of where a small change from the top had a drastic effect with everyone down below.
What I get out of complexity theory is that we’re constantly being watched and that everything we do can have a drastic effect on our organization. Boyatzis and McKee made mention that to be a resonant leader we need to be “in tune with those around [us]. This results in people working in sync with each other, in tune with each other’s thoughts and emotions.” (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005, p. 4) When we’re in tune with others we can then recognize when something is wrong and make changes to correct them before it spirals out of control. Small changes lead to big results and we need to make sure that these results go in the right direction.
References
Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.
Hoch, S. J., & Kunreuther, H. C. (2005). Wharton on making decisions. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Obolensky, N. (2010). Complex Adaptive Leadership. London, UK: Gower/Ashgate.
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