Communication is usually faster, more reliable and more effective than in tall structures. Direct staff input leads to more support for decisions and fewer behind-the-scenes power struggles and disagreements.
These organisations can respond to constant change.
Evolve
Organisations need to constantly evolve if they are going to survive in a world of constant change. They will have to evolve to remain relevant.
The old approach of episodic change (discontinuous and intermittent), driven from the top, is broken!
Today, everyone in the organisation needs the capability and permission to be self-organising so that change is constant, evolving and cumulative.
The competitive advantage lies in the capacity to constantly change, which comes from employees being equipped with the capability and permission to identify, initiate and drive change. It is only through constant evolution that the organisation will survive and thrive.
Energy and ideas come from the whole of the organisation and are the catalyst for change. Transformation requires permission and participation at all levels. The organisation will only evolve by working through others. It is power with, not power over.
Give It Up!
If the organisation is going to flatten the structure, evolve and empower employees, one of the biggest challenges will be overcoming the reluctant leaders, who believe that delegation and empowerment of employees means loss of control.
In our turbulent world of constant change, leaders have to move from a command and control approach to a delegate and trust approach.
The command-and-control approach is fine for improving operational efficiency in a well-defined environment.
However, in today’s fast moving, complex world, we need to relinquish control in order to gain control. We need to “give it up!”
Many leaders fear they will lose control if they relinquish control to others. In times of stress, the tendency is to revert to command and control whilst still wanting employees to be creative and innovative and able to rapidly respond to change.
The issue is that employees will not be creative, innovative and responsive and are likely to leave the organisation if they don’t feel trusted and respected.
Adaptive Leadership
Not only do leaders need to give up control, they need to become adaptive leaders.
Acknowledging that we are living in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, how can leaders chart a course when they cannot predict the outcome of their choices?
Today, every organisation is an information business. Leaders need to be able to read the right signals and act upon them.
Adaptive leaders learn through experimentation, and manage the context, not the instruction set.
They cultivate diversity of view to generate multiplicity of options. They lead with empathy, reward accomplishment with autonomy and seek winning solutions for all stakeholders.
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