Case Study Analysis US Army

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Chapter 11: Adaptive Leadership

Overview

Adaptive Leadership Description

A Model of Adaptive Leadership

How Does Adaptive Leadership Work?

Strengths, Criticisms, Application

Description

Adaptive Leadership:

Focuses on the adaptations required of people in response to changing environments

Stresses the activities of the leader in relation to the work of followers in the contexts in which they find themselves

Encourages effective change across multiple levels: self, organizational, community, and societal

Framework developed largely by Heifetz and associates

Definition

“The practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive.”

Adaptive leaders:

Mobilize

Motivate

Organize

Orient

Focus the attention of others

Incorporates Four Different Viewpoints

Systems Perspective – Problems are complex with interconnected parts

Biological Perspective – People develop and evolve by having to adapt to internal cues and the external environment

Service Orientation – Leadership serves people by diagnosing their problems and prescribing possible solutions

Psychotherapy Perspective – People adapt successfully when they face problems directly, distinguish between fantasy and reality, resolve internal conflicts, and learn new attitudes and behaviors

Subset of Complexity Leadership Theory

21st century organizations have knowledge and information as core commodities rather than production of goods

Theory includes administrative, adaptive, and enabling leadership

Focuses on strategies that encourage learning, creativity, and adaptation in complex organizations

Model of Adaptive Leadership

Situational Challenges

Technical : Problems that are clearly defined with known solutions that can be implemented through existing organizational procedures

Example: Issues with newly adopted software at accounting firm. Manager has authority to address the problem, contact the software company, and have program modified to meet accountants’ needs.

Model of Adaptive Leadership

Situational Challenges

Technical and Adaptive: Challenges are clearly defined but do not have straightforward solutions. Leader and followers both tackle problem.

Example: Hospital wants to change from traditional approach to care to a patient-centered culture. Administration can offer training on how to involve patients in their own care. Medical staff , patients, and families need to accept the change and learn how to implement it.

Model of Adaptive Leadership

Situational Challenges

Adaptive: Problems that are not clear- cut or easy to identify.

Example: Hospice care and uncertainty for patients and families about how and when the patient will die. Many questions about the dying process, what the loss means, how to prepare for it and cope with it.

Model of Adaptive Leadership

Leader Behaviors

Get on the Balcony

Stepping out of the fray and finding perspective in the midst of a challenging situation, while still staying connected. Moving back and forth as participant and observer.

Identify Adaptive Challenges

Analyzing and diagnosing challenges. Distinguishing between technical and adaptive challenges.

Model of Adaptive Leadership

Adaptive Challenges

Use adaptive leadership behaviors for adaptive challenges and technical leadership for technical challenges

Technical: Can be fixed with leader’s own expertise and authority

Adaptive: Value laden and stirs up people’s emotions

Model of Adaptive Leadership

Four Archetypes of Adaptive Change

Gap between espoused values and behavior

When an organization espouses values that it doesn’t in reality support by its actions. Ex. Claiming to be family-friendly but not providing flextime.

Competing commitments

When an organization has numerous commitments and some conflict with each other. Ex. Wanting to expand services but cutting staff positions at the same time.

Model of Adaptive Leadership

Speaking the unspeakable

When there are ideas or unpopular ideas or conflicting perspectives that people don’t dare to address. Ex. People afraid to discuss the failing skills of an aged, but likable company owner.

Work avoidance

Where people avoid addressing difficult issues by staying in their comfort zones or by using diversion. Ex. Refusing to confront a skilled employee whose performance is slacking because he feels the company suffers from institutional racism.

Model of Adaptive Leadership

Leader Behaviors

Regulate Distress

Helping others recognize the need for change but not become overwhelmed. Monitoring stress and keeping it within a productive range.

Create a holding environment

Provide direction, protection, orientation, conflict management, productive norms

Regulate personal distress

Model of Adaptive Leadership

Maintain Disciplined Attention

Encouraging people to focus on the tough work they need to do. Helping people address change and not avoid it.

Avoidance = ignoring the problem, blaming the problem on authority or co-workers, attacking those who want to address the problem, pretending the problem doesn’t exist, working hard in areas unrelated to the problem

Model of Adaptive Leadership

Give the Work Back to the People

Too much leadership and authority can be debilitating, decrease people’s confidence to solve problems on their own, and suppress their creative capacities.

Leaders need to be attentive to when they should drop back and let the people do the work that they need to do.

Protect Leadership Voices from Below

Being open to the ideas of people who may be at the fringe, marginalized, or even deviant in the group or organization.

Adaptive Work

The process toward which adaptive leaders direct their work.

Grows out of the communication between leaders and followers but is primarily the work of followers.

Adaptive work is conducted in the holding environment.

Followers are not submissive to leaders; they are the ones doing adaptive work

How Does Adaptive Leadership Work?

Focus is on engaging individuals to do adaptive work

Leaders support followers during changes in the environment

Leader steps back from situation to gain fresh perspective.

Leader decides whether challenges are technical or adaptive.

If technical, leader uses authority and expertise to solve.

If adaptive, leader uses several prescribed behaviors to move the adaptive process forward.

Strengths

In contrast to other leadership theories, AL takes a process approach; leadership is a complex transaction between leaders and followers.

AL is follower centered. Adaptive leaders mobilize people to engage in adaptive work.

Helps followers deal with conflicting values that emerge in changing work environments.

Prescribes useful leadership behaviors.

Contributes concept of a “holding environment” as an integral part of the leadership process.

Criticisms

Very little empirical research has been conducted to test the claims of the theory.

Model needs to be refined; relationships between factors need to be clarified.

AL is too wide ranging and abstract.

Doesn’t directly explain how AL incorporates a moral dimension. Unclear how doing adaptive work leads to socially useful outcomes.

Application

On individual level, the model provides a conceptual framework to help us determine types of challenges and strategies for managing them.

On organizational level, explains a variety of challenges. Widely used in nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and health care.