In the early 1990's, Ronald Heifetz, Senior Lecturer in Public Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, introduced the concept of 'adaptive leadership'. Despite its first being published over 20 years ago, adaptive leadership is still engaging leaders all over the country and has, within the last few years, taken its place among the great theories of leadership. In this post, we're going to take a broad, 30,000 foot look at Heifetz's theory.
In the second chapter of his book The Practice of Adaptive Leadership (2009), Heifetz and his co-authors lay out their argument for adaptive leadership, its characteristics, and how it applies to organizations. In their words, adaptive leadership 'is the practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive.' One of the principle components of this theory is understanding the difference between technical and adaptive challenges in organizations (hence the name). Technical challenges can be very complex and their resolution is critical to the health of the organization, but their solutions are known and can be resolved through the proper use of current authority, processes, and expertise. Adaptive challenges, however, 'can only be addressed through changes in people's priorities, beliefs, habits, and loyalties.'
As leaders, it is important to know this distinction, because trying to solve adaptive problems with technical solutions will only lead to defeat, probably followed by even more challenges. Sometimes, these two categories can overlap, such as a merger or buy-out. Here's a helpful example from Heifetz:
“We have seen significant technical aspects when companies merge or make significant acquisitions. There are huge technical issues, such as merging IT systems and offices. But it is the adaptive elements that threaten success. Each of the previously independent entities must give up some elements of their own cultural DNA, their dearly held habits, jobs, and values, in order to create a single firm and enable the new arrangement to survive and thrive.”
It is significant to note that adaptive challenges deal significantly with culture, another reason I talked so much about the importance of understanding your organizational culture in my blog last week. Next week, I'll introduce you to the components of adaptive leadership, but take a minute this week to think about the challenges you face in your company. Are they mostly technical problems? Or are many of them adaptive? If they are adaptive, do you have the data and resources available to address your culture?
See you next week.
--Tyler