Wanted - 'Wicked' Leaders.

Most hierarchical organisations were effectively designed to deal with what Uhl Bien et al. (2007) term complicated contexts in which the challenges they face can be readily understood by breaking them down into their constituent parts and then solved through the application of authority, rules and processes framed by an explicit statement of what the outcome should be.??Grint (2005), building on the work of Rittel & Webb (1973), identifies two main types of complicated problems organisations can face: ' critical' and 'tame'.??As the name suggests, a critical problem poses an immediate threat to the organisation and therefore requires explicit, decisive action to resolve it, i.e. the use of authority.??Here everybody is likely to know what the problem entails and expects the leader to take control.??A tame problem poses no immediate danger to the organisation.??It can therefore be resolved through the timely application of existing rules and processes, i.e. the use of management.??While both types of problems can be pretty complicated, they are ultimately understandable, and the intended outcomes are clear.??Here the traditional role of the leader within a hierarchy is to centralise the information to understand the cause, prioritise, make a decision and then direct the actions of subordinates and/or oversee processes to remove the problem and maintain control.??

However, in today's VUCA environment, there can be no doubt that many organisations are increasingly being exposed to complex contexts in which the challenges they face cannot be readily understood by breaking them down into their constituent parts.??They require a much broader and deeper understanding of the various internal and external factors at play.??Grint (2005) uses the term wicked to describe complex problems with no readily identifiable solution or end-state.??He goes on to say that within this environment, the role of the leader is to influence by asking questions rather than giving solutions and employ personal influence to build organisational collaboration.??Likewise, Osborne et al. (2002) propose that for complex problems, the traditional notion of the charismatic leader leading from the front and being able to transform the institution is no longer valid, as solutions that help restore order, cohesion and viability often emerge from the lower levels of the organisation.??Rodriguez & Rodriguez (2015, p.858) therefore propose that the role of the leader is increasingly to reach out from beyond typical hierarchical structures in order 'to adopt a more collective approach to both understanding and solving problems, spread through networks of people'.??In other words, the role of the leader in this increasingly complex VUCA world now more than ever requires a shift in mindset from leader as problem solver to leader as problem finder, willing to push decision-making down the organisation to help exploit the chaos that VUCA entails.

However, in their work on the learning organisation, Argyris et al. (1985) found that hierarchical organisations often employ value sets primarily concerned with achieving the task.??This, in turn, results in leaders attempting to maintain unilateral control of both the task and the environment.???Consequently, leaders who have been socialised within such organisations often find it difficult to admit that they do not have the answer and, importantly, relinquish any degree of control or decision-making.??Indeed, my own research (Hartford, 2019) has identified that future senior leaders within rigid hierarchies are often selected, developed and promoted during their early careers primarily on their ability to take control and achieve the task rather than their ability to build networks and enhance collaboration.??Grint (2010, p.15) therefore proposes that in organisations that primarily associate leadership with 'the effective and efficient resolution of problems' this often causes leaders difficulties when faced with a wicked problem, and the pressure to act decisively can result in leaders trying to solve the problem as if it were a tame or critical problem (Grint, 2015) which can often only serve to make the problem worse.

So while there is still a requirement for leaders to be able to deal with crises, (through the use of authority) and routine (through the use of management) it is essential that they are also able to build collaborative networks up, down and across the organisation.??At its simplest this requires leaders to become more visible within the organisation and engage their teams by asking 'what do you think' and 'what would you do'. More challenging is the requirement for organisations to help individuals develop the empowerment, coach-like skills and empathy that are increasingly vital components of a leader's repertoire if they are to thrive within the chaos that VUCA entails.??This, in turn, has significant implications for an organisation's selection, development and promotion criteria to ensure that 'good' leaders are able to become 'wicked' leaders when required.

References:

Argyris, C., Putnam, R., & McLain Smith, D. (1985) Action science: concepts, methods, and skills for research and intervention. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.

Grint, K. (2005) Problems, problems, problems: The social construction ofleadership. Human Relations. 58 (11), 1467–1494.

Grint, K. (2010). Wicked Problems and Clumsy Solutions: The Role of Leadership. In:The New Public Leadership Challenge. Palgrave Macmillan, 169–186.

Hartford, C. (2019) Mission Command is all well and good, but not on Graduation Day. Ph.D Thesis. University of Leeds. Available at https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/25995/

Osborn, R. N., Hunt, J. G. & Jauch, L. R. (2002) Toward a contextual theory ofleadership. Leadership Quarterly. 13 (6), 797–837.

Rittel, H. & Webber, M. (1973) Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sciences. 4 (2), 155-169.

Rodriguez, A. & Rodriguez, Y. (2015) Metaphors for today’s leadership: VUCA world, millennial and Cloud Leaders. Journal of Management Development. 34 (7), 854–866.

Uhl-Bien, M. Marion, R. and McKelvey, B. (2007). Complex leadership: Shiftingleadership from the industrial age to the knowledge era. The Leadership Quarterly. 18 (4), 298-318.