How do you balance systems thinking with agile and adaptive management?

Even the most lateral-thinking leader will struggle if their team isn't on the same page, which will result in ineffective adoption and implementation of new processes. The first challenge is getting your team to think with a systems-based mindset. I maintain that the majority of people start their day by opening and reacting off the back of emails, which means their objectives and those of the company often get forgotten or pushed down the road. To encourage proactive behaviour and lateral thinking among the team, encourage them to plan their days before they touch their email and prioritise goal-oriented tasks before tackling reactive work. For any top-down rollouts from you as their leader, this will serve as a stronger foundation.

Within policing ; system thinking is crucial to breaking down silos and alignment with the vision and values of your organization .

I'm reminded of the ITIL4 (IT Operations) principle about thinking holistically. Systems thinking is holistic. It looks up and out from a team, a system or a boundary. It considers the wider value and alternative perspectives. Encourage collaboration, working across teams, and make sure there is a balanced scorecard of priorities. Encourage thinking and problem solving that considers the collective vision and mission as well as more parochial objectives. Encourage 'emergence' where a larger idea is born of smaller elements. Encourage 'synthetic' thinking that combines ideas to generate something new. Consider the interconnections, the causality and the feedback loops at play in your system.

I have found that modern policing requires agility to navigate all of the challenges which exist. Our culture supports a rigid mindset and having the ability to be nimble and agile, supports quicker change.

Establishing a safe and collaborative environment to allow your team to take the necessary steps to see around the curve. Awareness of risk and the courage to lead will play a large role in success.

Balancing systems thinking with agile and adaptive management, I believe, requires a strategic approach. From my perspective, systems thinking helps you understand the broader context and interconnectedness of elements within your organization, while agile and adaptive management allows you to respond effectively to change and uncertainty. To achieve this balance, integrate systems thinking to inform your decision-making, and utilize agile principles to enable experimentation, learning, and rapid adaptation. This synergistic approach will empower your teams, foster collaboration, and ultimately drive value for customers and stakeholders in dynamic environments.

We have found this to be true in our organizations. We have had success in culture change, innovation and how we serve the community, by a focusing on systems thinking and enabling an agile approach to what we do. It has created innovation and creativity within the framework of our core policing responsibilities.

System thinking is enable by ensuring everyone understands what the organization future state should look like and fostering an environment of collaboration.

I believe, is achieved through continuous skill development. From my perspective, you can hone these abilities by reading literature, attending courses, and engaging in communities of practice. Seek feedback from teams, customers, and stakeholders to identify areas for improvement. This iterative approach will refine your capabilities, enabling you to effectively navigate complex environments with a holistic mindset while embracing flexibility and responsiveness.

As leaders our role is to help, teach, support, mentor and nurture others to their full potential. In creating an environment of belonging, inclusion and empowerment, others flourish; in turn this will promote a culture which embracing an agile mindset.