The complexity of our world.
Let's take a look at the context of leadership.
This context can be simple or it can be complex – which means that leadership can also be
simple or complex.
It is simple if you are at the top of the hierarchy.
Your world has a pyramid structure and you are the boss.
Other players depend on you.
However, leaders hardly ever operate in hierarchies.
Most often, they operate in networks.
A network means that there are multiple players, often with opposing interests.
This is no pyramid, but rather a spaghetti-like structure of mutual
dependencies.
In a networked, interdependent world,
player A depends on player B, player B depends on player C and player C
on A and B.
And so on.
What is the dominant management style of a leader in a hierarchy?
Command and control.
Give commands and check whether your people follow them.
Does that work in a network?
In a networked world?
Of course not.
In this MOOC, we will therefore need to go in search of
an alternative management style.
Leadership is simple if problems are structured.
A structured problem is a problem that has one right solution.
An example of that type of problem is 1+1.
Whatever your cultural background, or your political views,
1+1 is always 2.
However, many problems are unstructured.
There simply is no one right solution.
There may be all kinds of reasons for this: there is no unambiguous data,
no clear criteria to weigh up conflicting aspects of a problem,
the models we are using may be questionable.
So what is the dominant strategy if problems are structured?
Management by expertise.
A leader is someone with the specific expertise to guide us in the right direction.
Someone with a specific vision.
But if problems are unstructured, this does not work.
Leadership is simple if the world is stable.
In a stable world, there are no major changes in the networks
and the problems and solutions also do not change.
But in most cases, the world is dynamic.
Networks change – one player may gain in terms of their power position,
while another loses.
New players may suddenly emerge.
And the definition of problems and solutions change.
We redefine problems or new innovative solutions emerge.
In a stable world, project management proves very useful.
You plan your activities and carefully implement them.
Of course, that does not work in a dynamic world – so
we need to search for an alternative leadership style.