Week9 How successful leaders think PDF

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How Successful leaders think - Prof Don...

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Article 2 week 9: Martin R, “How successful leaders think”, Harvard Business Review, June 2007 Key definitions Integrative thinking- The ability to face constructively the tension of opposing ideas and, instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generate a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new idea that contains elements of the opposing ideas but is superior to each. Opposable thumb, opposable mind- to hold two conflicting ideas in constructive, almost dialectic tension, and using that tension to think towards new and superior ideas. However, putting this to work makes people anxious, as most avoid complexity and ambiguity. The presence of two working models is unnerving.

Key Concept Integrative thinking- being able to look at the two extreme ends of the spectrum and consider thing in-between. Leaders who practice integrative thinking will not compromise one factor over the others, instead they will want to work out a solution which has zero trade-of Design thinking- focuses on observation (a technique), journey mapping to look for something unusual and then finding a business opportunity from within 1. Empathize (observe the customers) 2. Find out the causality (asking ourselves why?)

Summary - Integrative thinking is needed for wicked problems (complex problems). - It is about looking at opposing concepts/ideas and consider everything in between 4 stages of decision making:

1. Determining salience (figuring which factors to take into account) Integrative thinkers welcome complexity 2. Analysing causality (analyse how the numerous salient factors relate to one another) Integrative thinkers question the validity of apparently obvious links/ consider multidirectional and nonlinear relationship 3. Envisioning the decision architecture Integrative thinkers don’t break down a problem into independent pieces and work

on the separately. They see the entire architecture of the problem, how the various parts of it fit together and how one decision will affect another. 4. Achieving resolution (we often accept an unpleasant trade-of with relatively little complaint, since it is the best alternative) Integrative thinker may be dissatisfied with the fresh batch of options he’s come up with, and may go back and start over, till a satisfactory outcome emerge.

Integrative thinking is a “habit of thought”. Starting with greater general awareness of integrative thinking as a concept, then embrace and practice it. Conventional thinking is still required (situational) Possible negative impacts: Time consuming Resource intensive Dead ends Examples EG1. Redhead veered away from the two conventional models of software sales. 1. The classic proprietary-software model which sold customers operating software but not source code. 2. Free-software model which suppliers sold CD ROMS with both the software and the source code a low price. Bob Young (CEO of redhead) went on and synthesized the two models. Red Hat helped companies manage the upgrades and improvements available through Linux’s open-source platform and he also gave the software away, repackaging it as a free download. This repositioned Red Hat’s value from software provider, to service provider....