Adaptive challenges vs. technical problems

Case-in-Point™

Adaptive Leadership™ is a set of strategies and practices that can help organizations and the people in them break through gridlocks, accomplish deep change and develop the adaptability to thrive in complex, competitive and challenging environments. It differs from other leadership approaches in core beliefs such as these:

• Leadership can be learned. It is about understanding and about behaviors and actions. It is not an inherent set of traits such as charisma.
  
• The adaptability of organizations depends on having widespread leadership that can come from anywhere within an organization, not just from those in top positions of authority.
• Because adaptive change generates resistance, exercising leadership can be both difficult and dangerous.

Adaptive Leadership™ consulting is not about individuals and how well they're doing; it is about understanding adaptive pressures and dynamics, and using those insights to be more successful in leading change.

Adaptive challenges vs. technical problems

Adaptive Leadership™ distinguishes between adaptive challenges and technical problems.

Technical problems are ones that can be defined clearly and for which solutions exist; it may be a difficult fix, but we know what to do or can find an expert who does. Technical problems can be managed and usually fall to some one with the authority to address them.

Adaptive challenges are usually fuzzy and hard to identify clearly. They involve changing hearts and minds and often are championed by someone who cares, but who may not have the authority to impose change. Adaptive challenges imply having to learn new ways and choose between what appear to be contradictory values. They cannot be "managed," but must be confronted and dealt with honestly.

Adaptive challenges, although unique for each organization, share several properties in common.

1. There is a gap between aspirations and reality.
2. Progress requires responses outside the organization's standard repertoire.
3. Narrowing that gap will require difficult learning.
4. Part of the learning will require distinguishing, among all that is valued, what is essential to be carried forward and what is expendable, which will involve loss.
5. The losses often involve learning to refashion loyalties and develop new competencies.
6. Painful choices must be made between competing loyalties and values.
7. The people with the problem are the problem, and they are the solution. Problem-solving responsibility must shift from authoritative experts to the stakeholders.
8. Adaptive work requires a longer time frame than technical work.
9. Adaptive work involves experimentation.
10. Adaptive challenges generate disequilibrium, resistance and work avoidance.

Significant organizational change inevitably involves adaptive challenges. Dealing with those challenges and overcoming barriers in the system to accelerate the pace of change and realize cherished goals is the work of Adaptive Leadership™. CLA's work is to promote and support the strategies and skills of Adaptive Leadership™ so that more organizations can fulfill their mission. We do this through

• Keynotes, presentations and workshops that introduce the framework of Adaptive Leadership™;
• Diagnostic work that clarifies the adaptive challenges, identifies system dynamics and creates a road map for building Adaptive Leadership™ capacity;
• Consulting engagements designed to deliver a customized Adaptive Leadership™ program more broadly throughout the organization. This includes both training for newcomers to Adaptive Leadership™ and support for individuals and teams as they apply Adaptive Leadership™ strategies and skills to the specific challenges of their organization.
• Ongoing collaboration in implementation to maximize sustainability.

Back to Top

Case-in-point™

CLA's unique delivery technology, called case-in-point, is easy to describe, but hard to do. It is learning by doing, applying Adaptive Leadership™ strategies not just to external challenges, but also to the deadlocked and often emotionally charged issues within the client's organization. It means using any group—workshop discussion, coaching session, task force meeting—as an opportunity to observe dynamics, connect them to the challenges, and practice Adaptive Leadership™ behaviors in real time.

Comprising experiential exercises, presentations and small group leadership consulting, case-in-point has proven to be a powerful way for individuals to practice and internalize the behaviors of Adaptive Leadership™. It encourages them to become smart risk takers in service of the mission, and to act in creative, sustainable and productive ways in demanding, stressful and complex situations. Case-in-point™ is a distinctive element of CLA's work with clients and often a central element in why we have been engaged.