Better Decisions: Making Sense of Complexity - Key Takeaways

Wed, 15 Mar 2023 12:00:00 Z

It’s events like today that remind me just how challenging it is for leaders in our complex and complicated world. Juggling decisions and achieving goals with so much ambiguity, considering consequences, process, information, and politics.

As CRF program partners I got to hear insights from keynote speaker Dave Snowden, Director of Cynefin, who opened with points around not having end goals. Small fluid movements in the right kind of direction lead to doing the next best thing. Focusing on the next best decision avoids aiming for the wrong goal and keeps organisations flexible and agile in times of crisis, and fast-moving market trends.

Naturally, I’m considering the impact of layering personality on top of this theory - how do our values play in here? If we are driven by security, traditional and long-term goals, how comfortable will this feel? If decisions should be made to keep options open rather than to solve a problem, how do people who value results and success feel about this fluidity? Self-awareness as well as team data around collective values and motivations would help to identify areas to support strategies for those who might need more energy to change their ways of working.

I really loved the concept around informal networking to solve problems with small groups of 3 cross-functional people sharing ideas to make decisions. Psychological safety is a hot topic with our clients and creating these networks of mini teams would help to increase trust within organisations, reduce politics, speed up decisions and increase relevant information flow.

APS Blog

Better Decisions: Making Sense of Complexity - Key Takeaways