When dealing with adaptive challenges and complex adaptive systems, we have to remember that “humans tend to regard chaotic that which they can not control”, notes Richard Pascale, Mark Millemann and Linda Gioja in their book, Surfing The Edge of Chaos: The Laws of Nature and the New Laws of Business (Three Rivers Press, 2000). When we operate within our comfort zones, we can, for the most part, achieve a degree of control, order, and predictability. Most of our problems or challenges are technical in nature and do not call into question fundamental beliefs, choices, or habits.
However, once we are outside our comfort zone, the world around us starts to feel like a chaos zone or even worse, a panic zone. We are overwhelmed and stressed, struggling to process numerous variables and opinions over which we have minimum, if any, influence, control, or input.
While we may intellectually understand that true change does not occur until we step outside our comfort zone, I believe that when we deal with complexity and adaptivity, we also experience loss. We loose not just the familiar, but our confidence, clarity, and competence. We are unsure whether or not we have the capacity at the personal or the professional levels to deal with the problems and challenges before us. We also are unsure whether the organization has the capacity to deal with it, too. The combination is very difficult for all involved.
Simultaneously, as we step outside our comfort zone, we lose the feeling of being connected to others. We tend to feel alone with the challenges before us. And this loss impacts our ability to self-govern or self-direct the choices before us.
The outcome of this experience, and the related feelings is that we experience something called disjointed incrementalism, i.e. we know where we want to go, but we are not sure exactly how to get there. Many leaders in situations of this nature are worried about the uncertainties and difficulties that come with dealing with complexity. They may even feel confused about what is most important to do first.
I think the difficulty of this situation is that when we are inside our comfort zone, there is an assumption, and often the experience, that change will be predictable. We assume our actions and our plans will all work. We assume that there is a degree of normal predictability and control during their implementation. Furthermore, there is the assumption that a solution is known in advance and the systems are present to implement it.
However, with complexity and adaptive challenges, this is not the case. The continual dynamic nature of the situation generates risks and unknown variables which can not be controlled or made predictable. Therefore, we have to create new choices and new ways of doing things.
When effective people move outside their comfort zone, they need to find or create, and then maintain a safety zone. This is very important because when dealing with complex and adaptive challenges, we have to recall that they will require a new perspective, expertise, and solutions. They also call into question fundamental assumptions and beliefs. Plus these same complex and adaptive challenges can only be addressed through changes in people’s priorities, beliefs, habits and loyalties. Doing this level of work and leading others through it without a safety zone is a pathway to disastrous results.
If, on the other hand, we recognize this element of the work and understand the importance of safety zones, then we can create them. The first step is to build healthy and supportive teams. This relationship-centric approach recognizes that when we are a part of a safe and trustworthy, relationship environment, we are willing and able to ask questions and seek new answers.
The second step is to “zoom out before zooming in,” referencing the work by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen in their book, Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All (HarperCollins, 2011). The goal here is to create and to maintain strategic perspective, not just operational execution. By seeing the bigger picture and understanding how the trends and the risk profiles are changing, we then are able to make better decisions and develop contingency plans as needed.
The third step is to focus on making sure it is safe to engage in strategic level dialogue. The goal here is generate healthy, interactive levels of communication so people can think through what is happening. As Patrick Lencioni in his book, The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business (Jossey-Bass, 2012), reminds us: “People will not actively commit to a decision if they have not had the opportunity to provide input, ask questions, and understand the rationale behind it. Another way to say this is, ‘If people don’t weigh in, they don’t buy in’.” When dealing with complexity, we want people to buy in and we want them to work as one team given the dynamic nature of the challenge before them.
Every day, we default to our comfort zones. But during times of complex adaptive challenges, we need to create new safety zones in order that we can transform what feels chaotic into a surmountable challenge. It takes time and effort to do this work. It also is worth the investment in the short and long haul.
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