Observation
‘ It is no longer complicated, it is complex’.
A good friend of mine is also a coach. She was talking to a client last week who said it was getting really tough now because‘it is no longer complicated, it is complex’.
He explained that when we went into lockdown there was tremendous pressure and many, many things to do; cuts costs, save revenue, implement WFH and communicate, communicate, communicate. The leadership challenge was complicated, there were a lot of moving parts but actually it was relatively straightforward, it was clear what you needed to do, the challenge was doing it.
Now those initial challenges have been met there are a new set of tough choices which are much more ambiguous; how do we cope with a very uncertain future, when and how do we return to work, do we fundamentally change our business model, how do we maintain engagement and communication without repeating the same old message etc etc? This is a much more complex challenge, requiring leaders to deal with greater levels of ambiguity, to create messages which are more nuanced and to help their organisations cope with multiple likely scenarios and adapt to very fast changing situations.
It does seem to me that our leadership challenges are no longer just complicated but are indeed becoming much more complex and that will require us to provide a new level of leadership and draw on new depths of energy.
Thank you – Hilary.
Current Leadership Challenge
‘Gegenpressen’
I am not much of a football fan but like many I am an admirer of Jurgen Klopp, the charismatic Liverpool manager. He is credited, probably depending on your allegiance, with being the godfather of Gegenpressen, the high pressure, fast football that resulted in Liverpool’s amazing season until COVID 19 came along.
I know relatively little about football but it does seem to me that if we need to operate with speed in the future, which I passionately believe we do, then there are definitely some lessons to be learnt from Gegenpressen :
It won’t come naturally – I still wince every time I see the goalkeeper playing the ball out from the back rather than just hoofing it down the field. If you want speed, you need to have a clear game plan and drill your teams to follow it, otherwise they will keep reverting to thumping the ball up the field.
Attack immediately – once Liverpool get the ball, they don’t consolidate their position, they instantly go on the attack catching the opposition when they are vulnerable. The opportunities they create are much greater than the risks.
Everybody is involved – it is no longer just a case of getting the ball to the flyer upfront and hope she can get to the goal before being tackled. Everybody is involved and knows their role, in fact they have many roles and flex between them as the game demands.
Fitness and capability – have you seen how much ground the players cover? Also Trent Alexander-Arnold, the Liverpool right back, despite being a defender, can pass the ball like Paul Scholes (for those Manchester United fans who are squirming at the constant mention of Liverpool!). Liverpool have helped redefine the fitness and capability needed to be a great team – I suspect the same challenge faces many of us as leaders now.
Practical Action
Prepare For A New Better
I really like Bain & Co as an organisation. I am biased as my son and daughter in law both work for them but I find they have a really nice balance of strategic thinking and practical leadership insights. Unashamedly this is taken from their Founders Mentality Blog in response to the Covid-19 crisis (see resource link below).
As we come out of the immediate Covid-19 crisis these will be some of the key actions leaders will need to take for their organisations to survive or indeed thrive in the future:
Prediction – we all know perfect prediction is impossible but winning firms will enhance their scenario planning capability, ensuring the top of the organisation is closer to the front line and as a consequence removing the middle layers that get in the way.
Adaptability-
Avoid snapback to how it was – Bain illustrate this with the story of Hershey and Coca Cola. During the second world war the US military asked them to provide a chocolate bar and a can of soda a day for all their soldiers across the world. This meant both companies had to go global changing their logistics, supply, infrastructure etc. After the war Hershey retreated back to focusing on its traditional strength, the US market, Coca Cola pushed on to become a global company. Decades later, Coca Cola is one of the world’s leading brands and is worth many times the value of Hershey.
Build a learning organisation – use the crisis to learn what’s critical and what is dispensable, what works and does not work etc etc. Then keep learning and keep acting on it.
Build new businesses – create the capacity to ‘do whatever it takes to meet our most important customers’ needs…., no excuses!’
Resilience – the drive for efficiency has built solutions which are great until they are not. Resilience has been driven out by the search for cost savings and now many organisations are paying the price. If, as Bain predict and I believe, we are entering a more turbulent world, companies cannot afford to be so blasé in ignoring resilience in the future.
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