I am pleased to say that (with Mary Boone) I have had an article on Leadership and Complexity accepted for the November edition of HBR. There is even rumor it will be the lead article but I will believe that when I see it! The article uses the Cynefin model as a basis to discuss the need for leaders to understand that different domains require different diagnostic techniques and leadership styles. It also argues that leadership is contextual, challenging the myth of the heroic leader that pervades too much management literature. More on that over the next week, but just to wet your appetite, I quote from the conclusion below:
In the complex environment of the current business world, leaders often will be called upon to act against their instincts. They will need to know when to share power and when to wield it alone, when to look to the wisdom of the group and when to take their own counsel. A deep understanding of context, the ability to embrace complexity and paradox, and a willingness to flexibly change leadership style will be required for leaders who want to make things happen in a time of increasing uncertainty
The article has been long in preparation and if it hadn't been for Mary's persistence it would not have been completed. Its also been interesting to contrast the referee process with that of an academic journal. None of this blind review, accept or reject stuff. If they want it they engage to make it a good article. You get an editor appointed who works with you almost as a co-author. We were very lucky to have Bronwen, and a Welsh name in Boston was propitious. After that other editors get involved as the article is refined to Harvard style before the design team engage. In its way it is more vigorous than an academic journal, but vigorous in ensuring that it is matched to the style and readership of the journal.
There will also be, for the first time in years a new visualisation of the Cynefin model. I haven't seen it yet, first attempts rejected but we are promised something original!
We will get a chance to order off prints in advance so if anyone wants some let Steve or I know. Hopefully the HBR credibility will help the network in getting executive buy in to projects. Mary and I will also be offering some leadership seminars and processes around the article.
Comments (9)
Congrats Dave! It sounds like a great article - I'm looking forward to reading it when it comes out. Interesting referee process as well - sounds much more exciting than a blind review...
Posted by Curtis Conley | September 6, 2007 5:44 PM
Posted on September 6, 2007 17:44
Congratulations David, I'm looking forward to reading your article. I think that this publication in a 'mainstream' management journal will enhance my ability to work with our senior leadership (public sector organization - they tend not to want to explore and apply new concepts until tested elsewhere).
Additional note: I just read a book by Michael Fullan (Leading in a Culture of Change) that in part addresses approaches to change leadership within a complex environment. His focus is primarily on eductional leadership but has application to other settings.
Posted by Randy Scott | September 6, 2007 7:07 PM
Posted on September 6, 2007 19:07
Congratulations, Dave! That's a great accomplishment.
Regards,
Stan
Posted by Stan Garfield | September 6, 2007 7:49 PM
Posted on September 6, 2007 19:49
Dave
wonderful stuff. I'm using Cynefin with my MBA class (Management of IT and IT Projects) and its going well with them. What is interesting is this model that is coming from nowhere they are familiar with that they after a headwrecking class or two they really come to grips with. Of course next years class will just think its another thing I picked up in the HBR :-)
cheers
Dermot
Posted by Dermot Casey | September 7, 2007 12:25 AM
Posted on September 7, 2007 00:25
I can't wait to read it! It sounds extremely insightful and relevant -- the context of completive environments evolves so fast (innovate or die). I imagine that the willingness to change and adapt leadership styles has never been more important.
Congrats!
Posted by Nick | September 7, 2007 2:04 PM
Posted on September 7, 2007 14:04
I may be wildly off base, but your summary paragraph of your HBR article, and my impressions of some of your previous writings, remind me very much of another recent HBR article:
Harvard Business Review > June 2007 > How Successful Leaders Think
by Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto
[many successful leaders] "have the predisposition and the capacity to hold in their heads two opposing ideas at once. And then, without panicking or simply settling for one alternative or the other, they're able to creatively resolve the tension between those two ideas by generating a new one that contains elements of the others but is superior to both. This process of consideration and synthesis can be termed integrative thinking. It is this discipline—not superior strategy or faultless execution—that is a defining characteristic of most exceptional businesses and the people who run them."
Posted by Keith Fortowsky | September 7, 2007 10:27 PM
Posted on September 7, 2007 22:27
Congratulations Dave.
Posted by Lauchlan Mackinnon | September 8, 2007 4:32 PM
Posted on September 8, 2007 16:32
How timely. I was just re-reading the paper "The new dynamic of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world" (Kurtz and Snowden) and it got me to thinking about decision making in each domain. Now it is coming out in an article which I cannot wait to read.
Posted by Les Handford | September 10, 2007 11:48 PM
Posted on September 10, 2007 23:48
Hi Dave
I am a facilitator and am running a leadership retreat for a state gov department at the end of October.
I wanted to introduce them to the Cynefin model (introduced to me by bob Dick).
any chance of getting a draft copy of the article so I can make use of any "pearls of wisdom" at the 2 day retreat with participants?
Warm Regards
Geoff Brown
Posted by Geoff Brown | October 1, 2007 6:03 AM
Posted on October 1, 2007 06:03