November/December 2005

Management Today

Magazine of the Australian Institute of Management
www.aim.com.au

In “Adaptive Leadership” Heifetz discusses the characteristics of adaptive leadership. A qualified doctor, as well as a Lecturer at Harvard in Leadership, Heifetz draws analogies with evolutionary biology where organisms decide what DNA to keep, what to discard and what must be built on to meet new or challenging environments.

Adaptive leadership therefore is not just about change but identifying what you hold on to. Radical surgery is not often required. Respect for the enormous wisdom often accumulated in an organisation’s cultural history is critical to a successful transformation process. If you believe that leadership is about change, then you will increase the sources of resistance. The trick is to capitalise on history without being enslaved by it.

Adaptive leaders encourage people to innovate. Successful experiments graft onto the best of the organisational DNA. One important point for project managers is Heifitz’s suggestion that adaptive leaders need to recognise that today’s plan is simply today’s best guess. It is important to be able to deviate when situations demand it.

Unlike technical challenges where the task is to mobilise people to do what they already know, adaptive challenges require people to develop new ways of doing things. To take another mediacal analogy,: Doctors are trained echnical experts - they can operate to replace a heart valve but the longer term solution may be for the patient to modify their diet, get more exercise or stop smoking. With adaptive problems, the people themselves are part of the problem and the solution therefore lies with them.

Adaptive leaders are unable to provide answers. They frame the right questions, identify the realities which need to be addressed and challenge people to take responsibility. their leadership therefore generates resistance. Sometimes they are marginalised by organisations. They may be labelled whistleblowers.
Organisations need to find ways in which these leaders can be embraced. As an example, Heifetz cites Xerox who invented the mouse, the graphical user interface and Ethernet but was unable to transform and take these innovations on board. Organisations need to be able to promote to management level those people who can assess the adaptations needed for different environments. More latitude should be given to tailor the company’s way of doing things to local environments.

“Six Sigma” by Gillian Bullock
Six Sigma is defined as a Quality management system aimed at eliminating waste and slashing costs but with a strong customer focus. The Sigma part is a statistical reference to deviation - in this case the output of a process is compared to what customers want.
Business problems are converted to statistical problems with Six Sigma. Unsurprisingly, in order to be effective, Six Sigma requires a champion at senior management level. The Six Sigma project plan is :
1. Define the problem
2. Measure (quantify in measurable terms)
3. Analyse information from the metrics
4. Improvements based on analysis
5. Control solutions so that benefits are sustained

Six Sigma implementations sometimes include Lean, an assembly line manufacturing methodology developed by Toyota to reduce waste. Lean tools identify areas of waste and then Six Sigma can be used to ensure the adopted processes are robust enough for the customer aspects of quality.
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