Directors & Executives, Are You Up To The Job?

Few of you seem willing to recognise, and many of you will deny, we have a Governance Crisis.

THE EVIDENCE

• A recent survey of over 4,700 CEOs found 45% were “not confident their companies would survive more than a decade on their current path.”
• The average tenure of a CEO has declined sharply, to just 4.8 years in 2022
• Recent reports in the Financial Times suggest keeping a CFO is even harder.

You may also be asking why I’m arguing nothing is more important than overcoming this crisis? Think of any system we depend on – politics, energy, education, law, health. Do any working well? If we can’t make them work, what hope do we have of avoiding a climate catastrophe, realising the sustainable development goals, or eliminating future wars? How well prepared are we for another pandemic, or the next banking crisis? ????????

IN OVER YOUR HEAD?

Faced with a Polycrisis, Permacrisis, or Metacrisis associated with the Megatrends, directors and executives with only an understanding of classical management theory are out of their depth. Are you one of them?

Do you know how to simultaneously manage continuity and continuous change with all the associated Tame, Messy and Wicked problems? If you don’t your organisation is unlikely to survive.

And if your goal is to thrive, not merely survive, you must know how to embrace the challenges and the opportunities they offer, not just manage them. Do you find that idea daunting?

OUTDATED MANAGEMENT THEORY

By now you are likely to have read warnings, that we live in a world characterised by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity – a VUCA world?

The characteristics of the megatrends, and variously named crises associated with them, are intensifying these conditions.

The COVID pandemic was a taste of things to come, and exposed some of the consequences of the governance crisis. ??

WRONG PRESCRIPTIONS

The bottom line is this, the crises are forcing you to address 'messy' and 'wicked' problems, but the classical management you are likely to have learned means you are only equipped you to deal with 'tame' problems.

Michael C Jackson, former Dean of Hull University Business School states why this is a problem. In the preface to his book, Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity. He asks:

“What help can decision-makers expect when tackling the “messes” and “wicked problems” that proliferate in the age of complexity? They are usually brought up on classical management theory that emphasizes the need to forecast, plan, organise, lead, and control. This approach relies on their being a predictable future environment in which it is possible to set goals that remain relevant into the foreseeable future; on enough stability to ensure that tasks arranged in a fixed hierarchy continue to deliver efficiency and effectiveness; on a passive and unified workforce; and on a capacity to take control action on the basis of clear measures of success. These assumptions do not hold in the modern world, and classical management theory provides the wrong prescriptions.”

WICKED PROBLEMS CANNOT BE TAMED

Few directors and executives could define each type of problem: 'Tame', 'Messy', and 'Wicked'. Can you?

And, if yours was a classical management education, do you have any real understanding of the very different capabilities needed to manage each type of problem? Or are you making the mistake of trying to tame the 'messy' and 'wicked' problems?

How confident are you in your ability to embrace 'messy' and 'wicked' problems to realise the opportunities they may offer?

The scale and frequency of corporate crises is already very high, as evidenced in the PwC Global Crisis Surveys. But they are set to grow exponentially according to all major institutions that speak of the crises we face. How prepared are you, your colleagues, and your organisation for such problems?

ARE YOU ANY MATCH FOR 21ST CENTURY CHALLENGES

The poly, perma, and meta crises associated with the megatrends feature large numbers of interrelated and interdependent 'messy' and 'wicked' problems. They present directors and executives with only a classic management education with challenges many are simply not equipped to address, regardless of the type of organisation or sector they are in.

Of governments the United Nation’s Secretary General, António Guterres said, “Complexity is a core feature of most policy issues today; their components are interrelated in multiple, hard-to-define ways. Yet governments are ill-equipped to deal with complex problems.” Few other organisations in other sectors are any better. Is yours? ?

In short, we have a #GovernanceCrisis. We urgently need to address this. Do you agree?

WICKED PROBLEMS

Wicked problems are highly complex, interconnected, and continually evolving. They have no definitive solution and are characterised by uncertainty, incomplete information, and changing circumstances. They are often systemic and require innovative thinking, continuous learning, and holistic approaches to navigate the challenges they present. Wicked problems are considered the most challenging and complex type of problem. They are interconnected with broader societal issues and have no definitive solution due to their evolving nature and the presence of multiple stakeholders with conflicting values and interests. They are often characterized by uncertainty, resistance to change, and the need for innovative approaches that consider long-term consequences and unintended effects.

STRANGERS TO THE SOLUTIONS NEEDED

A few years ago I interviewed David Hancock, a director at the UK Government's Cabinet Office, Infrastructure and Projects Authority, and author of “Tame, Messy and Wicked Risk Leadership.” In the interview he said,

“We remain grossly ignorant of the dynamics of too many messes and the social interactions of wickedness. We are still predominantly organised to solve tame problems, and our businesses and institutions of higher education seem largely strangers to the solutions that are needed.”

CHANGES NEEDED

He also noted, “we now know that effectively sorting through messes entails some fundamental changes in what we think and how we think, in what we teach and how we teach, and ultimately in the ways we organise ourselves”. But he added......

“There is still a strong human tendency towards wanting determinism and any models that support the illusion and give confidence (false in my opinion) that we can manage the future get far more traction than those which indicate that the future is uncertain and ambiguous, which requires strong leadership to resolve”.

THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL

The last point he made is an important one because, in truth directors and executives have to deal with all three types of problems, and the associated degrees of complexity, simultaneously and continuously.

They must always be managing both continuity and change. But they tend to focus far more on optimising the performance, efficiency, and cost controls related to "business as usual".

These activities are linked to the 'tame' problems over which they can have more certainty and control.

Does this describe you, your colleagues or your organisation? ??

NO SINGLE SOLUTIONS

The more distant the future horizon you are looking at, the more uncertain and ambiguous the problems you face become. And, if you only have a classical management education. you are unlikely to have a full appreciation of the nature of the 'messes' and the 'wicked' problems, or the skills you need to deal with them. You are apt to want to try and tame them, as already stated. But this doesn’t work.

NEW CAPABILITIES NEEDED

“Solving wicked problems requires high level conceptual and systems thinking skills; behavioural complexity requires high levels of relationship and facilitative skills. And the main thrust of the resolution of these problems is stakeholder participation and satisficing, because there is no single optimum solution, There are only alternative and acceptable scenarios,” said David Hancock. ?

CRITICAL SYSTEMS THINKING & PRACTICE

Of the several new capabilities needed to tackle 'messy' and 'wicked' problems, the most important are Critical Systems Thinking and the related practices pioneered by Michael C Jackson. You need these capabilities. And you need to ensure every member of your team has them.

Without strong systems thinking capabilities it is impossible to think strategically, make good strategic decisions, and execute strategies effectively whilst understanding and managing the associated risks. This explains why most strategies fail or disappoint, and why most risk management efforts also fail.

Do these statements ring true to you? ?

IN CONCLUSION

I hope this article has convinced you that we are experiencing a governance crisis, and that you will agree nothing is more important than overcoming it?

If yours was a classical management education, I hope this article encouraged you to reflect on the limitations of that?

And I hope you agree that the first gaps you and your organisation need to address are any systems thinking capabilities gaps, because the messy and wicked problems we are already face with will intensify.

If any of this rings true to you, the Enlightened Enterprise Academy can help you.

OUR PROGRAMMES FOR EXECUTIVES

The Enlightened Enterprise Academy explored these issues in a conference in early 2020 and Mike Jackson was a speaker. Following the conference we decided to collaborate to develop executive programmes to help organisations and their leaders address their systems thinking capabilities gaps. The exploratory programme has been delivered twice, and we just started a Deep Dive Programme.

Starting on April 29th we are offering a new Introductory Programme, with a focus on managing continuity and change simultaneously - one for the biggest challenges most directors and executives face. for reasons outlined above.

The introductory programme assumes participants will have little, or no, prior knowledge of Critical Systems Thinking and Practice. It will explain their importance and usefulness in dealing with the complex, 'messy' and 'wicked' types of problems common today, compared to traditional management tools and methods that are simply not up to the job.

The programme is delivered entirely online with a mix of multi-media resources available on-demand, plus four live sessions delivered weekly (90 minutes each) that include an audience Q&A session. These sessions are recorded and added to the content folder for access after the session, and all content is available for at lease one year after the programme ends.

The programme is hosted on a dedicated platform that allows participance to interact so they may share thoughts and experiences related to the programme.

YOUR INVESTMENT

Book your place on the programme using one of the following options:

• ￡245 Discounted Single Payment Until 29th February RESERVE NOW
• ￡295 Standard Single Payment RESERVE NOW
• 4 x monthly payments of ￡80 (￡320 in total) RESERVE NOW

You may qualify for a discount. Our usual discount policies apply. If you think you qualify, please email us for the relevant payment links: [email protected]

Multiple places for teams are also offered at a discounted rate. For Details [email protected]