『The Hidden Leadership Skill: Leading for Evolution』のカバーアート

The Hidden Leadership Skill: Leading for Evolution

The Hidden Leadership Skill: Leading for Evolution

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概要

 Premise: Almost all leaders today lead in an environment that is ripe with disruptions and ever changing competitive landscape. The challenges of leading in this constantly evolving landscape are very different from that of leading in a stable environment where the current management practices are rooted in. So, if we have to succeed in this new world, we need to change the lens through which we view leadership and management practices. That begs the questions - where can we draw inspiration for the new way of leading. Thankfully, we don't need to look far. We can learn from Evolutionary Biology. Leading an organisation today and how evolution works are very similar - they are both a part of and navigate complex adaptive systems. And nature has had a long time to perfect the techniques and tactics that have allowed life to bloom. So, I think there are some interesting and important lessons that we can learn from nature and the evolutionary process. Foundational Tenets of Evolutionary Biology Here are the most fundamental and foundational tenets on which the entire field of Evolutionary Biology is based on: Random events produced the first signs of life.Since then, variation (mutation - adjacent possible and genetic drift - random shifts) provides the impetus for evolution.Selection acts as the fitness test (ability to reproduce and stay alive)Inheritance ensures successful traits are passed on to next generations.Deep time allows cumulative change to produce new functions or species.Over time, simple rules lead to complex patterns, behaviors and species. The starting of our organisation was the random event that started this journey of survival. Embrace Variation - Adjacent Possible & Genetic Drift All evolution happens when there is some sort of variation - either within the organisation or its context. This variation results in something new, which is then put through a rigorous test by its environment and only those variations that are able to navigate the environment successfully are then preferred. Every other variant slowly but definitely dies out. Similarly, as leaders, we need to create an ecology of ideas. We need to look at adjacent possibles (continuous improvement) in our area of work all the time. We should also be on the look out for the genetic drift (random, breakthrough ideas) which can help us shift the level we operate at. Every time something changes - internally within our organisations or externally within the context in which we operate in, we need to explore and come up with experiments and the one that is able to navigate the changes the best, needs to be promoted, while the other ideas slowly but surely die out. Actionable Tip for Leaders: Invite everyone on the team to constantly explore ways to improve the existing processes by running small SMART experiments.And once in a while (maybe quarterly), explore to identify game changing ideas. It is great if you succeed, if not, you would have atleast some more interesting experiments to run. Idea is to engage in the process. Selection acts as the filter for fitness Evolution uses fitness as the only filter to assess whether a variation in a species continues to evolve or simply goes extinct. It is nature's job to be always creating variations, testing them for fitness, promoting the fit one's to be passed on and killing off all other variations. It is exactly our job as a leader. We need to continue to create experiments (variations) both in the adjacent possibles and attempt at breakthroughs (genetic drift), give them some air to test and continue to invest in those that are providing to be successful and kill those that are not. Actionable Tip for Leaders: Lets ideas clash for investments - money, attention and time.Let the best idea (defined before the process is run) win, and let the rest die quickly. Inheritance of successful traits: In addition to variation, evolution also ensures that the successful traits are always passed down from one generation to the next. In exactly the same way, as leaders it is our responsibility to ensure that good ideas and what we learn is spread across the organisation and passed on. This can be done by creating systematic process for documenting and sharing of ideas - good one's that work well. In evolution, the only key criteria is for the organism to continue to survive as a species by reproducing itself. In business, the most important criteria is similar - to survive for another day. Anything that can help in this regard needs to be well known and well shared within the teams. Actionable Tip for Leaders: Ensure that best practices and good ideas are widely shared among the team so that everyone can learn and build on them. Let time play out The biggest strength of the evolutionary process is that it takes its time and is in no hurry. It allows for simple variations to compound over time to create complex abilities and species as a result. As leaders, we can also leverage the power...
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