Why don't we act on what
we know? Why does our approach to wicked problems belie our rational ideals? Cognitive biases
constitute an important part of the answer.
When we focus on quick fixes and what ails us in the
here and how, the shadow of the future recedes. What are some questions we
might ask ourselves to create more wholesome connections between our present
and our future?
Wicked problems can be
neither managed like tame problems, nor subject to command and control like
crises. Rather, wicked problems necessitate novel, whole-of-system approaches
that engage and involve the actors involved.
Whereas
some of our problems are tame, some are wicked, and yet others are critical.
Although critical problems - crises - attract the most attention, we would do
well to learn to better recognise and remedy wicked problems.
Elections are a time when we ask ourselves questions about the quality of our civilisation: who we are, whom we ought or would like to be, and how to bridge the discrepancy, if any, between the two. These questions often concern the common good. If political discourse about how to improve the common good seems beyond despair, revisiting more basic questions about what the common good is and what might reasonably be considered leadership in its service might offer more promise.
[Read More]The inaugural International Leadership Association Oceania conference began with a Maori waka tour. We intimately experienced the four seasons over five hours, enduring both scorching heat and icy rain as the waka coiled their way around Waitemata Harbour. Over the next two days, we continued to sail headlong into a lively showcase of presentations, plenaries, and workshops on the theme of building the research and development of leadership. We were immersed in knowledge, practice, and culture; and I returned to Melbourne carrying three indelible messages of complexity, relationships, and ethics.
[Read More]A challenge is dynamically complex when cause and effect are interdependent and far apart in space and time. The key lesson for leadership here is that dynamically complex problems cannot be successfully addressed piece by piece, but only by seeing the system as a whole. However, we are notoriously bad at seeing complex systems as a whole. Here's why.
[Read More]Challenges are generatively complex when the future is unfamiliar, uncertain and undetermined. The key lesson here is that generatively complex problems cannot be addressed by applying existing, solutions, but only by developing new solutions.
[Read More]Whatever the virtues of past approaches to leadership, many are maladapted to solving our toughest problems. Most of our ideas about leadership are not grounded in a key scientific insight; namely, that we are embedded in complex systems. If we want to solve our toughest problems, we need new ideas about leadership that are grounded in this emerging understanding of who we are and our place in the world.
[Read More]Some very serious cracks are beginning to appear in the capacity of our communities and ecosystems to sustain our wellbeing. Recent years have witnessed escalating social, economic and environmental problems. Irrespective of how we apportion blame for our problems and however hard we try to resolve them, one thing is clear: we are stuck. How do we get unstuck?
[Read More]