adaptive change

8/8/2019 Adaptive Change

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ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP AND

CHANGE

YOUTHBUILD USA NATIONAL RURAL

GATHERING

SUPPORTING COMMUNITY ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT IN THE RURAL CLUSTER

OCTOBER 14, 2008


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BALL OF CONFUSION in 1970

1970 song by the Temptations

Without taking an explicit position on anyparticular issue, the song provided asnapshot of critical issues and humanconcerns as we emerged from the turmoil of

1960's


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BALL OF CONFUSION 38

years later... Billions (trillions?) of dollars spent

Innumerable hours of paid and volunteerservice

Changes in public policy to addresstechnical challenges of poverty, education,

violence, substance abuse, etc.

Accomplishments yes.


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And the band played on...

What of the critical issues and community

concerns from the song have been solved tothe point where they no longer consume ourattention?

What is at the root of our inability tosuccessfully meet the challenges identified inthe song?


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SO WHAT DOES

ALL THIS HAVE TO

DO WITHYOUTHBUILD?


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USDA RCDI OUTCOMES

Recipients will create five-year plans The creation of new community-wide

economic development activities will beachieved in five rural communities

Recipients will each create three new private

sector partnerships for new job placementopportunities in their communities


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USDA RCDI OUTCOMES

Recipients will each create five newpartnerships for new job training

opportunities in their communities Recipients will each create two new

partnerships for post-secondary education

opportunities at community or technicalcolleges, state colleges, or universities There will be a 50% overall increase in job

placements among Recipients graduates


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USDA RCDI OUTCOMES

There will be a 25% overall increase in post-secondary placements among Recipients

graduates The creation and tracking of individual career

and income growth plans for every young adultparticipating in Recipient YouthBuild programs

will be accomplished


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Technical Change v. Adaptive

Change TECHNICAL

CHANGEAddressing technicalproblems that can bedefined clearly and forwhich solutions exist; it maybe a difficult fix, but weknow what to do or can find

an expert who does.Technical problems can bemanaged and usually fall tosome one with the authorityto address them.

ADAPTIVECHANGEIt requires leadership that

mobilizes people's capacityto sift through and hold onto what's essential fromtheir past and discard whatis no longer useful in order

to take advantage of newopportunities identifiedthrough the reflectiveprocess and theenvironment.


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KEY CONCEPT: Resistance to

changeDr. Ronald Heifetz explains"resistance to change" as afunction of the possibility of loss,fear of letting go of somethingthat is valued. That which isvalued is not always positive.


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JUST SOMETHING TO

CONSIDER...

YOUTHBUILD STAFF,PROGRAM ADVISORS AND

CONSULTANTS ARE NOT

IMMUNE TO THE RESISTANCEOF CHANGE!


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SMALL GROUP EXERCISE

Gather into groups of 3-4 people andbrainstorm answers to the following

questions.B

e prepared to share youranswers with the larger group.

What internal challenges or transitions are yourYouthbuild programs being affected by?

What external challenges or transitions are yourYouthbuild programs being affected by?


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COMMON ELEMENTS OF

ADAPTIVE CHANGE There is a gap between aspirations and

reality.

Progress requires responses outside theorganization's standard repertoire.

Narrowing that gap will require difficultlearning.

Part of the learning will requiredistinguishing, among all that is valued, whatis essential to be carried forward and what isexpendable, which will involve loss.


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COMMON ELEMENTS OF

ADAPTIVE CHANGE The losses often involve learning to refashion

loyalties and develop new competencies.

Painful choices must be made betweencompeting loyalties and values.

The people with the problem are theproblem, and they are the solution. Problem-

solving responsibility must shift fromauthoritative experts to the stakeholders.

Adaptive work requires a longer time framethan technical work.


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COMMON ELEMENTS OF

ADAPTIVE CHANGEAdaptive work involves experimentation.

Adaptive challenges generate disequilibrium,

resistance and work avoidance.


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BASIC TOOLKIT OF LEADING

ADAPTIVE CHANGE Get off the dance floor and onto the balcony Think politically

Orchestrate conflict Give the work back Hold steady

Taken from Leading with an Open Heart, byRonald Heifetz and Marty Linsky


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CHALLENGES OF ADAPTIVE

LEADERSHIPGet off the dance floor and onto the balcony. Leadership isimprovisational. It cannot be scripted. On one hand, to be effective aleader must respond in the moment to what is happening. On the otherhand the leader must be able to step back out of the moment and assess

what is happening from a wider perspective. We call it getting off thedance floor and onto the balcony. It may be an original metaphor, but it'snot an original idea. For centuries religious traditions have taughtdisciplines that enable a person to reflect in action. Jesuits call itcontemplation in action. Hindus call it Karma Yoga, the yoga of action. Wecall it getting onto the balconybecause that's a metaphor people caneasily relate to. But it's critically important, and the reason why religious

traditions have talked about it for so long is that it's hard to do. You don'tneed a major spiritual practice for something that's easy to do. It's hard, inthe midst of action, to step back and ask yourself: What's really going onhere? Who are the key parties to this problem? What are the stakes theybring to this issue? How will progress require us all to reevaluate ourstakes and change some of our ways?


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LEADERSHIPThink politically. Successful leaders in any field place anenormous emphasis on personal relationships. They spend agreat deal of time and effort creating and nurturing networks

of people they can call on, learn from, and work with toaddress the issues they face. They know that leadership ispolitical -- it's about motivating and mobilizing people tochange. So, thinking politically is absolutely critical, not onlyfor the person trying to lead from below or from the middle butalso for those trying to lead from authority on high. Leaders

need to work hard on creating allies, keeping close to theopposition, and finding ways to generate commitment fromthe uncommitted.


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LEADERSHIPOrchestrate conflict. People don't learn by staring inthe mirror. People learn by engaging with a differentpoint of view. When people are passionate about their

different points of view, it generates conflict rather thansimply disagreement. Successful leaders manageconflict; they don't shy away from it or suppress it but seeit as an engine of creativity and innovation. Some of themost creative ideas come out of people in conflict

remaining in conversation with one another rather thanflying into their own corners or staking out entrenchedpositions. The challenge for leaders is to developstructures and processes in which such conflicts can beorchestrated productively.


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LEADERSHIPGive the work back. To meet significant challengesrequiring adaptive change, people must change theirhearts and minds as well as their behaviors. Leaders

cannot do this for others. This is their work, and theymust do it themselves. Holding people accountablefor this work is not easy to do, especially whenpeople are looking to authority for easy answers orwhen people are in effect asking the authority figureto lie to them by projecting more certainty than shehas. Leaders who attempt to step in and take thiswork off the shoulders of followers risk becoming theissue themselves.


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LEADERSHIPHold steady. Confronting major change generates a greatdeal of conflict and resistance. Managing the conflict, dealingwith the politics involved, and making people accountable

requires an ability to hold steady in the heat of action.Leaders often need to refrain from immediate action andunderstand that the stew of conflicting views has to simmer,allowing conflicts to generate new experiments and newcreative ideas. The leader's job is to contain conflict -- preventthe disequilibrium from going too high and the conflict from

getting destructive -- and simultaneously to keep peopleaddressing the hard questions without opting for a technicalfix, an easy solution, or a decision from on high. In doing so,in holding steady, the leader will be the recipient ofconsiderable frustration and even anger.


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A selection of resources

Leadership on the Line: Staying Alivethrough the Dangers of Leading, Ronald

Heifetz and Marty Linsky The Fifth Discipline, PeterSenge Make Success Measurable! A Mindbook-

Workbook forSetting Goals and TakingAction, Douglas K. Smith

Process Consulting Revisited: Building theHelping Relationship, EdgarSchein

adaptive change

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