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4 Traits of an Adaptive

Organization
Posted on August 17, 2015 by HYPERLINK
"http://tyndaleblogs.ca/rethinkleadership/author/afrancis/" \o "View all posts by afrancis" afrancis

In the last few blog posts, we have been talking about the nature of organizational
culture. Lately, Ive been thinking about the best possible culture to support
environments where there is a high degree of change or what Courtney (2001)
calls residual uncertainty.

Perhaps thats why I love baseball so much. Baseball is so wonderfully simple! At


best, it might get complicated. But, unlike complex scenarios, baseball presents a
series of challenges to be solved. All of the solutions already exist and its a question
of applying the right solution, at the right time, and executing it flawlessly. Nothing to
it.

Most organizations dont work like the game of baseball, unfortunately. Navigating
organizational leadership means finding our way in a world where often our best
solutions, perfectly executed, will fail anyway.

Complex environments require a certain kind of culture to thrive. In fact, culture will
make or break the health of an organization. Following are four characteristics of
cultures that best support complex environments.

1. Hierarchy is Secondary
So, how do complex, adaptive systems thrive?

1. When they have the least rules possible to produce the desired patterns of behaviour across the
system
2. When members or agents in the system have freedom for self-organization, which leads to emergent
change

This is the antithesis of a hierarchy culture (one of four cultures that emerge from
Cameron and Quinns competing values framework (2011)). Your organization may
function under a hierarchy culture if it does the following:

Relies heavily on rules and policies


Upholds bureaucracy
Manages employees with command-and-control style leadership
When a culture becomes overly dependent on rules, bureaucracy and command-and-
control management, it moves into a state of extreme rigidity that prevents it from
adapting to changes in its environment.

2. Adaptive Organizations Compete Against


Themselves
Complex systems are adaptive, suggesting that they are constantly changing in order
maintain the best possible fitness landscape. Unlike a market culturethat thrives in a
highly competitive, results-driven environment, complex, adaptive systems are more
concerned about their own fitness than benchmarking against others.

3. Adaptation Emerges from the Ground


Up
A key to adaptation is having a high degree of innovation within the system, adapting
as it must to changes in both its internal and external environment. These innovations
typically occur closest to the actual work of the organization and are driven by those
who are doing the work.

This is consistent with an adhocracy culture. An adhocracy culture is recognized by


the following traits:

A dynamic and creative working environment


System members take risks without fear of being reprimanded
Experimentation and innovation are the bonding materials within the organization

4. Teamwork and Supportive Leadership are


Essential
As we have discussed in a previous blog, a clan culture is marked by its commitment
to:

Collaboration and teamwork


Leaders who serve primarily as coaches
Leaders who see results emerging when people are given the support and freedom to take ownership
for their own work
Empowering people to develop on-the-ground solutions that best suit the situation they face

In my experience, a strong clan culture, closely supported by a high level of


adhocracy will keep and organization on the edge of chaos, which is where complex,
adaptive systems thrive.

http://tyndaleblogs.ca/rethinkleadership/blogs/4-traits-of-an-adaptive-organization/

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