Using Adaptive Leadership to Address Complex Sustainability Challenges

A personal story

In my 20s I was fortunate enough to be part of a national Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) in the water sector as an industry representative. It was a chance to work alongside some distinguished and emerging thought leaders to address some complex sustainability challenges. Looking back, I learnt a lot about complex challenges, leadership and innovation over those years. One of the lessons I learned related to adaptive leadership - the focus of this article.

I na?vely joined an impressive team of researchers and industry practitioners with the mindset of a person approaching a technical challenge. I expected our team to use its expertise to quickly agree on a research methodology, develop a detailed project plan, clearly define the products, clarify milestones and fine tune the budget. The mistake I made was to misdiagnose the challenge we were working on. It was primarily a complex challenge, not a technical one, and consequently an adaptive approach to work and leadership was needed. Fortunately, more experienced leaders in the team didn’t make this mistake and we were ultimately successful in achieving our goals. With the benefit of hindsight, I’m a bit embarrassed I made this fundamental mistake but I’m sure I’m not alone.

In this article we will explore the concept of ‘adaptive leadership’ which is suited to addressing complex challenges. Such challenges are what most sustainability practitioners spend most of their time and energy working on. We will also use several frameworks to understand what it means to be an adaptive leader.

What is adaptive leadership?

Adaptive leadership is a style of leadership that is suited to addressing complex challenges. This style:

• Involves creating safe spaces (metaphorical ‘sandpits’) for stakeholders to better understand the problem and system, identify possible solutions, trial solutions, and scale up successful solutions.
• Encourages emergent leadership and solutions.
• Places an emphasis on ‘learning by doing’.
• Requires leaders to adapt as the complex problem evolves over time.

This approach is further explained by Dave Snowden and Mary Boone (2007, p. 75) who stated:

“Because outcomes are unpredictable in a complex context, leaders need to focus on creating an environment from which good things can emerge, rather than trying to bring about predetermined results and possibly missing opportunities that arise unexpectedly.”

Complex challenges are also known as wicked problems or adaptive challenges. Typical characteristics of these challenges include:

• The nature of the problem and solutions are contested.
• The problem is unstable - it evolves over time.
• Solutions typically involve behavioural change.
• There is often a history of stakeholder conflict, chronic policy failure and occasional crises.
• Solutions cannot be found by consulting a manual or an expert - experimentation is required.
• The people experiencing the problem need to be involved in finding solutions.
• A systems thinking mindset, language and toolkit are valuable for understanding the problem and identifying possible solutions.
• Creativity and innovation are needed to identify possible solutions.
• Even when solutions are found and scaled up, the problem may evolve and consequently new solutions need to be found.
• Working on these problems typically involves long timeframes, setbacks and uncertainty.

An example of adaptive leadership to address a complex challenge is the work of the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Water Sensitive Cities in Australia to identify new ways to plan, design, construct and maintain assets in urban spaces to use the city as a water supply catchment, maximise water reuse, reduce the urban ‘heat island effect’, reduce flooding, and minimise ecological impacts within local waterways. Over the last eight years, this successful CRC has created numerous ‘safe spaces’ for stakeholders to come together to engage in adaptive work, and to experiment with different engineering, planning and economic solutions.

The diagnosis challenge

A fundamental principle of leadership is that when we are seeking to exert influence and drive change (i.e. engage in leadership), we need to choose the right style for the situation we are facing. This is known as ‘situational leadership’. From this perspective, adaptive leadership is a particular style of leadership that is suited for a particular situation, namely addressing complex challenges.

Professor Ron Heifetz (Flower, 1995; Heifetz, 2009) makes the point that it is easy to misdiagnose a complex challenge as a technical (sometimes called complicated) one. This misdiagnosis leads to the wrong leadership style being used and a low probability of success.

A valuable framework that can be used to diagnose a complex challenge is Dave Snowden’s Cynefin Framework (see Snowden & Boone, 2007; Snowden, 2018). A video in which David explains this framework can be found here, and is highly recommended. In short, the framework describes five contexts a sustainability leader may face:

1. A state of disorder, where the leader has not yet diagnosed the nature of the problem they are facing.
2. Obvious challenges, where the nature of the problem and solutions are well known. For example, an environmental regulator may be assessing an industry with well-known environmental risks, and choose to apply standard conditions on their license that refer to best practice management guidelines.
3. Chaotic challenges, which require swift and decisive action (e.g. an emergency situation), and may require novel practices. For example, an environmental manager on a mine site who discovers that a tailings dam is about to collapse, may use a commanding leadership style (Goleman et al., 2013) to quickly mobilise a team to stabilise the dam wall with whatever resources are readily available.
4. Complicated challenges (sometimes called technical challenges), require expertise and analysis. For example, a team of technical experts may need to be assembled to diagnose and fix a problem with a sophisticated numerical computer model that predicts receiving water quality for an estuary. For complicated challenges, there is a high degree of certainty with respect to what will happen when we implement a potential solution.
5. Complex challenges are associated with high degrees of uncertainty. The nature of the problem and solutions may be contested. There is little certainty as to what will happen when potential solutions are implemented. In this context, experimentation is needed. Adaptive leaders need to create safe spaces for stakeholders to experiment with solutions, recover from setbacks, scale up successful solutions and encourage emergent leadership.

A particular sustainability challenge may move through several of these contexts. For example, under normal conditions a large mining operation that is responsibly managing its water and tailing dams would be making decisions in the ‘obvious’ context. A catastrophic collapse of a tailings dam would create a ‘chaotic’ context. If this collapse led to significant ecological, social, financial and reputational impacts, the management of these issues would probably be in the ‘complex’ context for a significant length of time, and there may be some complicated challenges to solve along the way (e.g. how to deliver safe drinking water to a downstream community that has been affected).

Some traps to avoid

Misdiagnosing a complex challenge as a complicated one is one of the traps that needs to be avoided. For those of us who have been trained as scientists or engineers, I suspect we are more vulnerable to falling into this trap as most of us have been trained to solve technical problems. Some of us have even been attracted to these career paths because of the satisfaction associated with solving a technical problem with a defined answer.

Another trap is the risk of burnout when working on complex challenges. A useful concept developed by Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky (2002) is the ‘productive range / zone of distress’, meaning that there needs to be pressure to work on a complex challenge, but not too much that people burnout as a result of working under pressure for long periods of time, experiencing setbacks, working in an environment characterised by uncertainty and conflict (e.g. the conflict of ideas). They also use the metaphor of a pressure cooker, where adaptive leaders need to turn up the heat for change, but also provide a pressure release valve so that the process of doing adaptive work can simmer for long periods without people giving up or burning out.

A third trap is adopting the unrealistic expectation that all complex challenges can be “solved”. A more realistic expectation is that they can be managed over time as they evolve. Using adaptive leadership to address complex challenges is normally a process of making significant progress as the problem evolves over time. The complex challenge of building water sensitive cities in Australia is a good example. We are clearly making sound progress with a greater diversity of water sources, more water recycling, a more water literate community, and substantial reductions in pollutants being discharged to waterways. It is also clear that we’ve still got much more to do, and the challenges our cities are facing are changing (e.g. the increasing risk of human health impacts associated with heat waves as global temperatures rise).

The adaptive leadership mindset

When using the adaptive leadership style a particular mindset is needed that is substantially different from the mindset we would use to address a complicated/technical challenge. Features of the adaptive leadership mindset include:

• A desire to create and facilitate a safe space (‘sandpit’) for experimentation. Examples may include a community of practice, a pilot project, an action research project or a design charrette.
• A desire to enable others to explore the problem, identify possible solutions, and trial solutions rather than direct others how to solve the problem.
• Ensuring that people who are experiencing the problem are involved in the process of exploring the problem, identifying possible solutions and trialling them.·      
• Using systems thinking as a mindset, language and toolkit to better understand the problem and identify ‘leverage points’ where solutions can be implemented.
• An expectation that there will be uncertainty, task-related conflict, setbacks and long timeframes.
• An understanding that leaders may emerge in the ‘sandpit’ (e.g. champions for particular solutions), and they need to be supported.
• An understanding that ‘solutions’ will emerge from experimentation and ‘learning by doing’, but these solutions are likely to have a limited lifespan and will need to be replaced by new ones as the complex challenge evolves.
•  Recognising that adaptive leaders also need to scale up successful trials (e.g. foster the institutionalisation of new practices).

Six principles of adaptive leadership

In a widely-cited paper by Ron Heifetz and Donald Laurie (1997), the authors articulate six principles for adaptive work that can be used to guide adaptive leadership. These principles are:

1. Get on the balcony - see the big picture. For example, a sustainability leader might use a systems thinking process to ‘zoom out’, work with other stakeholders, and seek to better understand the holistic and systemic nature of the problem.
2. Identify the adaptive challenge – diagnose carefully. This is the principle that encourages leaders not to fall into the common trap of misdiagnosing a complex challenge as a technical/complicated one. Sustainability leaders should note that it is common to have smaller technical challenges embedded within a larger complex challenge.
3. Regulate distress – apply pressure for change, but not too much. This principle reflects the pressure cooker metaphor. In addition to not applying too much pressure so that people give up or burnout, adaptive leaders can help to build resilience by helping people understand the nature of complex challenges, reminding people of their shared purpose, responding positively to setbacks, acknowledging and celebrating the achievement of milestones, and modelling attributes such as optimism, positivity and gratitude.
4. Maintain disciplined attention – keep stakeholders focussed on the core problem. Adaptive leaders should expect that there will be a tendency for people to experience fatigue when working on complex challenges, and they may start to shift their focus to work on technical problems that can be comprehensively solved in a shorter timeframe. Consequently, adaptive leaders may need to refocus people’s attention on the ‘main game’ (e.g. by asking questions or setting new goals).
5. Give work back to the people – enable others to find solutions and scale them up. This principle reminds adaptive leaders that their primary job is to facilitate and encourage distributed leadership where solutions can emerge from group work, rather than engaging in top-down, directive leadership. Adaptive leaders must also challenge the tendency of people to look to leaders in positions of authority (e.g. CEOs and politicians) for solutions to complex challenges.
6. Protect voices of leadership – listen to people ‘at the coal face’ of the problem. This principle reminds adaptive leaders that the stakeholders who have the most information, experience and expertise to address a complex challenge may be the ones dealing with it every day (e.g. maintenance personnel seeking to manage problems caused by poor planning or design). Whilst it may be uncomfortable for adaptive leaders to listen to stakeholders who are pointing out that existing solutions are no longer working, such voices must be encouraged, not silenced, in order for the next generation of solutions to be found.

Six competencies adaptive leaders need

What does it take to be an adaptive leader? Whilst I think some people are more suited to this style than others, all of the capacities that are needed for adaptive leadership can be consciously developed. John Fien and Sam Wilson (2014) developed a framework of five competencies adaptive leaders need. These are described below with an additional one (creativity) that I believe is equally important.

1. Collaboration – Adaptive leaders need to create the ‘sandpit’ and facilitate collaborative activities in them. Consequently, the ability to facilitate, negotiate and manage conflict is valuable.
2. Character – Adaptive leaders should demonstrate humility, empathy, persistence, optimism and authenticity. Authentic leadership (George & Sims, 2007) is particularly valuable, as it builds trust amongst stakeholders which fosters collaboration, and helps to keep the process of adaptive work going through difficult times.
3. Continuity of commitment – Adaptive leadership is more likely to be a marathon than a sprint. It helps if adaptive leaders are committed to a long-term process of leadership, and thoughtfully manage their succession when they move on.·       
4. Competence – Adaptive leaders need to commit to continuous learning about the context, problem, potential solutions, and the skills needed to play the role. A growth mindset is needed.
5. Communication – A broad range of communication skills are required to excel in this role including the ability to build a compelling shared vision and communicate it to stakeholders, active listening, storytelling, ‘sense making’ and persuasion.
6. Creativity – Innovative solutions are typically needed to address complex challenges. Consequently, adaptive leaders also need to be innovation leaders (see De Coutere & Horth, 2016) who have the ability to engage in creative thinking and lead group-based innovation processes.

Closing thoughts

Looking back to that situation I encountered early in my career as a sustainability professional, I now have clarity about what I should have done. I should have used a tool like the Cynefin framework to help diagnose that the urban water challenge we were facing as primarily complex. I should have recognised that the project I was involved in within the Cooperative Research Centre was the ‘sandpit’ for experimentation and ‘learning by doing’. I should have adopted the mindset of an emerging adaptive leader, and cooperated with others playing this role by helping to implement the six principles of adaptive work. And, I should have recognised it was an opportunity to build my adaptive leadership abilities, such as the six competencies mentioned above. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I agree with Steven Wright’s perspective that:

“experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it”.

André Taylor

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/andre-taylor-leadership/

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Dr André Taylor is a leadership development specialist who teaches Masters students at several Australian universities, works closely with business, sustainability and water leaders, and manages his own consulting business. His professional purpose is to work with enthusiastic leaders to drive positive change and make the world a better place, whilst demonstrating values of integrity, enabling others, sustainability and continuous learning. In 2016 he co-developed a sustainability leadership course for Masters students at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, and enjoys teaching this course each year.

References

De Coutere, B., & Horth, D. (2016). Innovation leadership, Training Journal, December 2016, pp. 12–15.

Fien, J., & Wilson, S. (2014). Leadership tools for wicked problems. Swinburne Leadership Institute. No. 3, May 2014. Melbourne: Swinburne University of Technology.

Flower, J. (1995). Leadership without easy answers: A conversation with Ronald Heifetz. The Healthcare Forum Journal, 38(4), 30-35.

George, B., & Sims, P. (2007). Discover your True North: Becoming an authentic leader. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2013). Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Review Press: Boston.

Heifetz, R. (2009). Ronald Heifetz: The nature of adaptive leadership. YouTube video by Faith & Leadership. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfLLDvn0pI8 (18 August 2020).

Heifetz, R. (2011). Adaptive vs. Technical - Dr. Ronald Heifetz. YouTube video by UMNLeadership. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwWylIUIvmo (18 August 2020).

Heifetz, R., & Laurie, D. (1997). The work of leadership. Harvard Business Review, January-February, 124-134.

Heifetz, R., & Linsky, M. (2002). Leadership on the line. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press.

Snowden, D. (2018). Cynefin framework introduction by Dave Snowden. Video by Cognitive Edge. https://www.cognitive-edge.com/videos/cynefin-framework-introduction/ (17 August 2020).

Snowden, D., & Boone, M. (2007). A leader’s framework for decision making. Harvard Business Review, November 2007, 69-76.