Resilience and Adaptability

Assessment of systems is an art. In the case of an organization, the possibility of generating data about the organization is without limit. Like a baseball commentator, statistical information can come from anywhere and, through recombination, can be multiplied ad infinitum - "The Toronto Blue Jays have never won a game when they were behind by one run at 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon." Data generation alone does not equal insight or good judgement.

Information about an organization can be valuable but if we think that information will tell us what to do and how to do it, our confidence is missplaced. One reason for this is the limited nature of generated data. Information tells us something but it leaves out everything else not captured in that data. And we know that what is left out is enormous, even if the research and data are high quality.

Data and information are not substitutes for the art of leadership. Leadership requires an ability to gauge the relative durability or fragility of an organizations systems - the networks, connections, flows and influences that it shapes and is in turn shaped by internally and in its wider relationship with factors on the outside. Statistical information can be an important contributor in developing this judgement. If durability and survivability are important to systems and organizations, then leading with a knowledge of how these higher order dynamics function becomes more critical than leading through data analysis.

Leading in a dynamic and complex environment is centred around the idea of fragility, durability and adaptability. Can we learn the art and practice of reading these dynamics? Effectiveness in our leadership roles will depend on how we answer this cluster of questions.