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Adapting to Change

In the midst of a rapidly changing economy and an uncertain future for the conventional business model, ABJ’s Antonia McGuire discusses how major shifts and tensions in the workplace, notably between the generations, are calling for management to acquire a new set of skills not yet taught in business schools. Find out why the Harvard think tank argues Adaptive LeadershipTM is ever so necessary for senior managers to practice in order to survive and thrive in this
new economy.

It is no secret that the transitional seasons—spring and fall—are the most ideal times to prepare a garden for the next year. Tulips need to be planted and produce from a vegetable garden must be harvested before the leaves start the fall. There are even some outdoor plants that can be re-potted and brought indoors in order to be protected from the harsh, cold weather. The one thing about transplanting, however, is that plants are highly sensitive to their environment. If there the air is too dry or if there’s a cool draft, the plant can have a hard time adapting and die; if it’s too warm or humid, mold can grow. Sometimes, a drought wipes out an entire season’s worth of crops.

Similar to how gardeners deal with such losses every change of season, senior managers currently leading organizations through this period of great transition must also accept that things won’t necessarily return to normal once the dust settles. Once the economy recovers, a different mode of leadership will be required, predict co-authors Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Grashow and Marty Linsky in an article published in the Harvard Business Review. And they aren’t the only ones who think a different style of leadership is necessary for senior managers to survive and thrive.

Surveying the scene

Executive coach and management columnist Ray Williams says his work with CEOs has lately revolved around this new concept of adaptive leadership and particularly how it relates to the new economy. New research shows the command-and-control style of leadership—where the leader knows all—answers is just not realistic. “Our economy is changing quickly; it’s important to consider that most workers today are knowledge workers, not factory workers,” points out Williams, whose columns about leadership in organizations have appeared in publications such as Fast Company and Psychology Today. “Because of the recession, what we’re finding now is that the traditional ways of doing business and managing people no longer work,” explains Williams.

One question still remains: where does that leave those at the top looking for some direction to lead?

Entering into the scene is management expert Marty Linsky of Harvard University, who is one of three partners of the Cambridge Leadership Associates, and co-authors of The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: the Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization (2009).

Constant change has global impact on the managing aspect itself

When examining the landscape of the current workplace, Linsky agrees that organizations of all sectors around the world are in a time where the traditional pressures on people to execute are complicated because this period is characterized by great uncertainty, rampant change and decision-making based on inadequate information. “The consequence of all these factors together is really that of the skills of adaptation, which are more important than the skills of execution,” argues Linsky “[Adaptive leadership] is not just about getting the task but also preparing yourself and your organization in order to perform despite constant uncertainty. That’s a different kind of skills set,” explains Linsky.

Here’s how adaptive leadership works. Imagine a two-by-two box where one dimension is diagnosis and action while the other dimension is system and the self. “We think diagnosing yourself and the situation you are in are in are undervalued qualities,” explains Linsky. Moreover, he uses the analogy of a heart attack that strikes suddenly and an emergency team rushing the victim to the hospital where professionals can execute advanced medical procedures to stabilize the patient. When the emergency passes, however, another challenge remains: how to prevent another heart attack? Having survived, how does one adapt to the uncertainties of a new reality in order to thrive? The crisis is not yet over, explains the co-authors Heifetz, Grashow and Linsky in their article, “Leadership in a (Permanent) Crisis” (Harvard Business Review) whose original work on leadership flowed out of hundreds people’s stories from all over the world.

Adaptive leadership is an acquired skill in the new economy

There is tremendous pressure on organizational structures in this time of crisis to survive. The repetition of change and challenges posed by generational shifts has affected not only organizations in North America, but also around the world. “It’s a very unusual period, and the organizations that we see similarities among the organizations that we work with globally and kinds of problems that companies are often facing are similar across the different communities,” says Linsky, adding many face difficult choices from making massive budget cuts and delivering pink slips to balance the books. “We spend a lot of time with organizations to try to see this moment as an opportunity, not just a threat. But what does that look like?” he asks rhetorically. It takes courage, Linsky believes. That means, for example, investing in your staff rather than cutting back on professional development. “It is exactly the wrong time to do this because it says you aren’t willing to invest in [your people]. It is the time to say, we believe in you and we are going to make sure our commitment to you is obvious, clear and unshaken,” he adds.

Another thing to consider is that such cut backs are often perceived as a lack of confidence in the future. During such difficult times, people are paying attention to how those at the top of the organizations look and feel. One prime example of this adaptive style of leadership is Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric. When Immelt first cut the dividend, it happened to be the first time in 70 years. Observers say it was largely a symbolic act; but the next day as the stock dipped to its lowest in 20 years and Immelt went out and bought $50,000 worth of GE stock out of his own money. “The most important thing I’ve learned since becoming a CEO is context. It’s about how your company fits into the world and how you respond to it,” said Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric in a statement. Indeed, his actions spoke more than words; what he did was make a huge statement to his people that he believed in the future and he believed in them. “It made a huge impact and it was not only a smart thing to do, managerially, but I think from a leadership perspective, it was exactly was required of him given those circumstances,” argues Linsky. That’s why learning this new skill set of adaptive leadership is essential for CEOs’ survival.

Adaptive leadership style shows a ROI in human motivation

No doubt CEOs may be grappling with this intangible concept in terms of seeing a return on investment. After all, this leadership style isn’t measurable in the same way. If that is the case, then how are leaders of organizations more and more convinced it is worth making the change? Because they can see the impact they have on the big picture. “For instance, you’ll notice a reduced turnover of employees, reduced absenteeism, less conflict in the workplace, people are prepared to go beyond their job titles and do more that is required of them, increased performance. I’ve been able to show a link between happiness and productivity,” explains Williams.
“If you have employees who are happy to work at your organization, then that becomes part of your recruitment criteria and you actually end up with more productive employees,” says Williams. He argues the other major challenge that many organizations face today is how to inspire people to be on board, to be loyal to a cause that they are actually involved in—not already set out for them in terms of a corporate vision or mission statement.

Joe Takash agrees. He is a behavior strategist and author of Results Through Relationships: Building Trust, Performance and Profit Through People (Wiley, 2009). As he put it, think about a sports team who may be talented but who doesn’t play with passion. They place themselves in a vulnerable place, one that is susceptible to defeat.

“Like coaches, leaders must find what motivates their staff members and intact teams. Doing so allows the team to maximize their confidence, talent, performance and creativity. Tapping into the motivations of your organization creates a winning energy and, in a time when so many companies are operating from a place of fear, you can differentiate yourself with a play to win approach, because you have a motivated workforce,” argues Takash.

Generational differences changing the work dynamic

It becomes more apparent that the conventional model of management is shifting as the new generation comes into the workplace. “We must also deal with the generation coming in, as [Generation Y] doesn’t want to be told what to do, because it’s not how they’ve grown up,” points out Williams. While adaptive leadership may very well be new to many veterans of the workforce, the younger generations seem to have one advantage: they are simply flexible in their very nature.

“They have experienced the kind of uncertainty that their seniors haven’t yet experienced,” explains Linsky. “They are more accustomed to [change]; I think they have a huge advantage in understanding and having grown up with all the technological innovations,” he says.

That being said, the three generations working under one organizational roof also has its set of challenges. Cultural conflicts, in particular, create tension in the relationship between and across the generations. This is a common, yet complicated problem in several types of organizations today. “What it means to be an employee, have work/life balance and commitment presents a constant strain, because younger people in the workforce have some attitudes and values, which they believe in quite strongly, that are hard for people who have been in the workforce for 30 years to understand,” explains Linsky.

Coping with multiple changes

If the generational differences and a changing business model isn’t enough to consider up at the top, now more companies and customers are insisting on a so-called third bottom line—sustainability and social responsibility. “If you can’t handle being [a leader who is] incredibly flexible and adaptable but also can hold conflicting chaotic and paradoxical views simultaneously—that spells out trouble,” argues Williams. It is a lot of change happening at once. Observers are noticing a difference in how the generations are coping.

Here’s a brief overview of how the different generations fair amongst each other.

Generation Y (born in mid-1970s to late 1990s)

With over 76 million Americans in this Millennial Generation or Generation Next, “Gen Y” is by far the second largest demographic in the workforce (or just starting their careers). For the 20-something worker, adapting to change is pretty easy because that is basically how they’ve grown up. They have the ability to consider multiple points of views and communicate with people instantly all the time, as opposed to waiting for a special time to do it. “I think their upbringing alone has allowed them to adjust to this change quite well. They do, however, have some challenges, namely face-to-face interaction, which is still required to have strong social groups in organizations,” says Williams. Their biggest challenge: Generation Y sometimes relies on electronic means to communicate.

Generation X (born 1961-1981)

At 50 million Americans, the Gen X demographic is a smaller group that is coping differently to this change. From their perspective, they want to make sure they have work/life balance and won’t sacrifice family time for instance to get ahead in their careers. Their biggest challenge: conflicting values or priorities with their employers or organizations.

Baby Boomers (born 1943 to 1960)

There are approximately 85 million Americans famously called the Baby Boomers. Generally speaking, they are certainly struggling to deal with this change because they are very used to a management model that holds the person at the top as having all the answers, and having an organization that is structured for an economy that existed 30 years ago. Their biggest challenge: learning how to practice adaptive leadership in the workplace since many of them tend to hold senior executive positions.

Teaching old dogs new tricks

Just how dogs learn and thrive through socialization, organizational leaders can learn from each other by simply bringing people together to find a solution. Williams furthers this argument by suggesting leaders take a page from other cultures, such as the Japanese. “They have a custom called Ba (pronounced Bow); the concept is that we produce knowledge for the organization through processes of socialization, whereby you gather people together, collectively, to come up with answers for everything that we do. Therefore, the job of the leader is to structure those social processes—which is a very different role,” argues Williams. He adds these new skills of adaptive leadership go back to the business schools.

Counterpoint to consider

While building strong interpersonal relationships is important for fostering collaboration in the workplace, Linsky digresses to emphasize the importance of diagnostic skills—or the ability to reflect in real time—to be essential. In other words, being able to identify your own sense of purpose and what you really care about and act in everyday situations and on everyday decisions guided by that purpose. “One of the things that get people trapped is wanting to protect everything that they have and one of the things that makes living through this time difficult, is that you got to chose between what is absolutely essential and what is expendable in order to move forward,” extrapolates Linsky from his theory in his co-authored book, The Practice of Adaptive Leadership. “At the Cambridge Leadership Associates [the three authors and Harvard experts], work with organizations by working through them, and it requires adaptation and the willingness to be open to new ideas or accommodate different ways of thinking.

What makes adaptation hard, if you think about it from the plant and animal analogy is that it’s about giving something up that is important to you,” he explains.