No question businesses and organizations are hurting from the COVID crisis and the economic fallout. Some far worse than others. But hurting should be expected and rightfully blamed on the current situation but hurting is temporary like all pain. Failing altogether is not. The blame for failure falls squarely on an inability to innovate, to shift mindsets and behaviors and think differently. This is not, however, the responsibility of one person or a small group of people such as a CEO or executives as some believe it is. At least not in the sense That they should be generating creative solutions. No, they do have a role and that is to unleash the power of their people through openness and transparency and a dose of humility. Innovation comes through collaboration but not in some homogeneous group at the top. It takes a mix of different perspectives, skills, ideas. Leadership needs to work now to breakdown barriers between people, create space to support connection and encourage open thinking. Depending on the organization before the crisis, it may take more on leadership to be present, to acknowledge ideas that are effective or not. Thanking people for trying encourages more trying and when it’s very public, it invites others to join in as well.
Right now the situation is complex and this is not hyperbole. It fits the definition of complexity perfectly:
a group of obviously related units of which the degree and nature of the relationship is imperfectly known.
Merriam-Webster (Entry 1, Definition 2C)
Remote work, imperfect technology, stressed systems and people, rapidly changing information, fluctuating markets, etc, etc. Complex.
What to do?
As Dave Snowden shares in his Cynefin framework, in complexity, we only know right and wrong after the fact. But we have to try something different. The zigs require zags. The best way to try is through small experiments (probe-sense-respond). Try something, analyze the data, make changes and try again. Interesting too, this formula is exactly what leaders need to use inside their organizations not just outside with customers, marketing, and products. If you’re not accustomed to being open and transparent, not strategically bringing disparate parts of the organization together, not used to being humble, apologetic, and encouraging, now is the time to try all of these.
All hands on deck, right? No “sacred cows”, right?
