31 Jul The blind leading the blind – complexity and strategic vision

We are knee deep in co-designing a leadership workshop with a client. There is an emphasis on leading in complexity. When I think about complexity, I think about Donna Glanvill from The Cynefin Company, and Sonja Blignaut from More Beyond. I have tagged them in the hope that they can help.

If the conditions of complexity are such that there is an overwhelming number of “unknown unknowns”, some discernible patterns, loads of things changing – then what are the possibilities for a coherent vision? Is it reasonable to expect that a vision might emerge? If the “VUCA/BANI WORLD!!!” narrative is true, can we be expected to craft a vision or are we resigned to probing many possible visions?

I think the answer is yes, we can find a vision or sense of direction – if we don’t have too tight a definition of “vision”. I think that the vision both emerges from the complexity and helps to give actionable shape to that complexity. If someone jumps up and says, “this is messy, and I want to get out of there!” they might think about finding a doorway – and get up and start moving. That produces a new pattern. Four people might also get up and start looking for a door. Does “get out of here” become the vision and “find a door” become the course of multiple experiments?

Practically – what does this mean for leadership development in complex contexts? Do we call for “tentative visions”? Is the action more significant than the vision? What are your thoughts – how much structure can we give “the vision thing” in complex contexts?