A633.3.3.RB_MedleyKim_Peel Away: Paradox Revealed

Peel Away: Paradox Revealed

            Obolensky (2010) defines a Complex Adaptive System (CAS) as one that is built on the foundation of “clear people processes and policies, sound and flexible information and communication technology systems, and transparent, inclusive and flexible strategy development processes” (p. 26-27). Central to the CAS concept is the team concept through which the sharing of information occurs in an open format and informal, flattened hierarchies take the place of the more traditional top-down view of management. As a result, “meeting the needs and expectations of external stakeholders” becomes the priority as opposed to “running the organisation”; and, greater “emphasis on personal responsibility” exists across all areas of the organization (Obolensky, 2010, p. 27).  As described by Coutu (2000), St. Luke’s, a London-based advertising agency, “is full of free spirits who delight in breaking rules – both as they create advertising and run their organization” (p. 143). Similarly, Hamel (2011) depicts Morning Star as “an organization that combines managerial discipline and market-centric flexibility – without bosses, titles, or promotions” (p. 49). Yet, long before examining Morning Star and its decision to turn away from traditional forms of hierarchal management; Hamel (1998) foretold, “Profound change in the competitive environment” was not only coming; but, proffered his belief, “only those companies that are capable of reinventing themselves… will be around” (p. 7).

            Both St. Luke’s and Morning Star have broken away from traditions in their respective industries. Each has been able to realize record breaking revenues. Each “pushes its people to take enormous risks”; while, at the same time creating an environment that’s safe (Coutu, 2000, p. 144). “No one has a boss” is a characteristic of each organization (Hamel, 2011, p. 51). Hamel’s (2011) description of Morning Star’s vision, creating an organization wherein teams of colleagues “will be self-managing professionals, initiating communications and the coordination of their activities with fellow colleagues, customers, suppliers, and fellow industry participants, absent directives from others” (p. 52), could easily be applied to St. Luke’s, a company “legally owned by its 115 employees”, complete with work space not defined by “signs or symbols in the office” (Coutu, 2000, p. 147). As I read about these two companies, my mind immediately returned to one of the most impressive companies I’ve read about, Whole Foods Market.

            Just as St. Luke’s and Morning Star have added new wrinkles to the advertising and tomato processing industries; Schawbel (2013) chronicles how John Mackey, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Whole Foods Market (WFM) has introduced the concept of “conscious capitalism” to the CAS applied to the grocery industry. Long before Mackey’s concept had a practical application, his organization created an environment for its people described by Erickson and Gratton (2007) as a “signature experience” designed to recognize “different types of people will excel at different companies, and that not all workers want the same things” (p. 106). WFM began with “team-based hiring”, a process whereby a new hire’s fate is completely dependent upon the team for the particular area, such as produce. A four-week time frame passes, after which the team votes to either hire or fire the new hire. A “two-thirds” majority is needed for a new hire to be retained (Erickson & Gratton, 2007, p. 107). The team is motivated to select the person best-suited to help the team achieve its goals so that bonuses, “explicitly linked to group rather than individual performance”, may be realized (Erickson & Gratton, 2007, p. 107). From its beginning, Whole Foods Market has continued to reinvent itself to stay competitive.

            Consensus building, team hiring practices, and the company’s “heroic” principle, “to try to change and improve our world”, as reported by Fox (2011), combine to allow WFM to introduce ways to compete with its competitors’ inexpensive wines, promote and expand sustainable seafood sales, encourage locally grown agriculture products, “be good citizens in the communities”, and extend the opportunity for volunteer work to its employees and customers (p. 123). Mackey recognizes “free enterprise capitalism” as “the most powerful creative system of social cooperation and human progress ever conceived”; however, at the same time, he acknowledges this older, more accepted way of viewing capitalism must include a grounding with a “higher purpose” and a recognition of the shared global connectedness (Schawbel, 2013). Mackey’s “four key pillars” result in the same experiences described by Law of St. Luke’s and Rufer of Morning Star, “exceptional customer experiences, less turnover, lower overhead costs, higher profits, and sustained growth” (Schawbel, 2013). The key, as Hamel (1998) reminds us, is the ability to reinvent; or as with Whole Foods Market, to continue to reinvent itself to keep its competitive edge.

            So how does a company, like WFM, continue to stay atop Fortune’s top 100 list? Just as WFM introduced its sustainable seafood labeling system, designed to allow customers to know more, not less, about its seafood products; Mackey (2015) describes this same approach for organically grown food products with WFM’s “Responsibly Grown” program, launched in 2014. The scoring system uses “factors not addressed by organic standards”; which, as demonstrated by the back and forth volley of letters between growers and Whole Foods Market, is still being tweaked in order to provide all stakeholders with a clear path forward (Mackey, 2015). At the core of the new program is the ability to “trace our produce back to the farm and field where it was produced to ensure integrity for our customers and to respond effectively in the event of a problem”; however, this core principle will have significant financial implications for the farmers (Mackey, 2015). The posting of the letter from the growers, along with WFM’s responses, demonstrates the use of feedback and how it can lead to “self-correcting rather than controlled” strategy development (Obolensky, 2010, p. 29). Had Whole Foods Market had a typical managerial hierarchy in place, rather than its evolving Complex Adaptive System, the conversations witnessed and posted by Mackey (2015) may never have taken place and led to the organic farming and product awareness we now see in other grocery stores.

            For me, the overall implications of CAS are clear. It begins with a willingness to “peel away all the levels” of one’s personality; and, I would add, the willingness to peel away the personality of an organization (Coutu, 2000, p. 145). Although the idea is quite frightening, if that marries with that which is already taking place in today’s world, “a quest for meaning in life” that transcends simple dollar signs; then today’s leaders should embrace the possibilities (Coutu, 2000, p. 144).

References

Coutu, D.L. (2000, Sept. – Oct.). Creating the Most Frightening Company on Earth: An

            Interview with Andy Law of St. Luke’s. Harvard Business Review, 143-150.

Erickson, T.J., & Gratton, L. (2007, March). What It Means to Work Here. Harvard Business

            Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2007/03/what-it-means-to-work-here

Fox, J. (2011). The HBR Interview: “What Is It That Only I Can Do?”. Harvard Business

            Review, Jan.-Feb., 119-123. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2011/01/the-hbr-interview-       what-is-it-that-only-i-can-do

Hamel, G. (1998, Winter98). Strategy Innovation and the Quest for Value. Sloan

            Management Review, 39 (2), 7-14.

Hamel, G. (2011, Dec.). The Big Idea: First, Let’s Fire All the Managers. Harvard Business

            Review, 48-60.

Mackey, J. (2015, June 16). Clarifying the Tenets of Responsibly Grown. In Our Blog. Whole

Foods Market. Retrieved from http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/blog/clarifying-tenets-responsibly-grown

Obolensky, N. (2010). Complex Adaptive Leadership. (2^nd ed.). London, UK: Gower/

            Ashgate.

Schawbel, D. (2013, Jan. 15). John Mackey: Why Companies Should Embrace Conscious

            Capitalism. Forbes.com. Retrieved from             http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/01/15/john-mackey-why-companies-     should-embrace-conscious-capitalism/

A633.2.3.RB_MedleyKim_Frailty Explains Complexity

Frailty Explains Complexity

            As explained in the video posted by It’s So Blatant (ISB) (2013), “mathematical concepts are often not well understood by the general public”; yet, “the image of a small, frail butterfly” and the subsequent flap of its wings in Brazil followed by a “tornado in Texas” is not only poetic; it is easier to understand. This is the very essence of that which Obolensky (2010) presents as “Lorenz’s Strange Attractor”, the underlying explanation of today’s chaos theory (p. 65). As ISB (2013) explains, Lorenz took something as complex as the atmosphere and simplified it to such a degree, the atmospheric phenomenon which Lorenz sought to study through weather simulators was reduced to a model represented by three letters: X, Y, and Z and an equation that may not reside in reality. Failing to provide a title for the presentation Lorenz would deliver in 1972; the organizer, rather than name the presentation “Deterministic Non-Periodic Flow”, the title of Lorenz’s 1963 published research, poses a question about predictability using imagery as opposed to mathematical formulas (ISB, 2013; Obolensky, 2010, p. 65).   

            Growing up in Florida presents a wonderful way to see “the butterfly effect” on a regular basis between the months of June and November, hurricane season (Obolensky, 2010, p. 65). National and local meteorologists stand before weather maps and begin to note small disturbances gathering off the north-west coast of Africa. What begins as a relatively small collection of yellow and green dots, indicating precipitation, changes on a weekly, daily, and hourly basis; and, eventually becomes the counter-clockwise rotating, massive, pinwheel shaped cloud we all recognize and know. A small tropical disturbance traverses across the Atlantic and grows to a Category 5 hurricane, complete with a name, and destroys the lives of thousands living in New Orleans, Homestead, New York, or New Jersey. Intellectually, we know the atmospheric conditions that begin, evolve, and result in a hurricane are tracked with mathematical approximations, resulting in the various paths the hurricane may take. Formulas, equations, graphs, and many variables help to explain the occurrence; but, as ISB (2013) notes, the eyes of the general public gloss over with such technical explanations. It’s easier to use the imagery of a butterfly, slowly flapping its wings off the coast of Africa, and have the flapping increase such that the butterfly transforms into the spinning image of the hurricane; or, as we see, a small group of yellow and green dots, grow and join other tropical disturbances or depressions and form the massive, easily recognizable white spinning cloud with an eye at its center. This same principle is seen in the business world, too.

            Nathan Eagle (n.d.) of txteagle, applied the benefits of falling market prices for “unlocked GSM phones” and brought about big changes in East Africa (p.1). Lower phone prices meant more folks could own phones and take advantage of its many features, including texting. Day laborers could organize through text rather than congregating throughout Nairobi awaiting daily work orders. A small change to an “SMS server application” allowed for the transfer of phone airtime; and, as a result, nurses provided blood level totals before shortages were realized (Eagle, n.d., p. 2). The ability to transfer small amounts of cell phone airtime provided an added form of currency; and, as a result, workers in East Africa can receive “an airtime transfer to their phones in lieu of a cash payment” (Eagle, n.d., p. 3). Transferring airtime led to the rise of Safaricom as “the largest bank in East Africa” (Eagle, n.d., p. 3). The greatest change brought about by Eagle’s observation of falling prices and the abilities of the mobile phone is the impact on the lives of many throughout East Africa. Translations of different languages are being translated. Citizens are able to report the news. Better surveys and market research are now available. Supplemental incomes are being earned by many which help pay utilities, put food on the table, and lead to more mobile phone ownership which leads to more paid work (Eagle, n.d.). A device typically taken for granted in the West has empowered thousands in the East. While Eagle’s achievement has had a global impact, Lorenz’s “butterfly effect” can impact local organizations, too.

            While employed as a Senior Underwriter for American Pioneer Life Insurance, in the early 1990s, a small change led to big changes with the communication process between the company and its field agents. The primary method of communication was either a written letter, or the use of a five-part NCR, hand-written form wherein the original was mailed to the writing agent and copies were mailed to hierarchal agents. Agents working with underwrites who had legible handwriting were fortunate. The NCR form listed all underwriting requirements. The underwriter was to check off the necessary medical requirements and the agent was to schedule his or her client for requirements such as medical examinations and blood work. Often times, agents could not read the handwriting; or, they would schedule and order requirements simply because they were listed; and, not required. Often times, the head of our data processing department would eat lunch in the employee break room. I was able to chat with him and he would tell me of new programs being developed. Such was the case that led to a simple five-digit computer code.

            At the time, word processing was in its infancy. We were transitioning from the Daisy-wheel typewriter to basic word processing. He not only told me about the new program, he showed me how it operated. I was able to explain to him the problems we were having in Underwriting and with agents who were ordering unnecessary requirements for which the company incurred the cost. We sat down with the NCR form. Underwriting must follow guidelines established by its reinsurers; however, when all requirements are listed on a pre-printed form, confusion and ordering unnecessary requirements follows. New business data entry already allowed for the name and address of the writing agent, along with the name of the applicant and file number to be identified. I took the NCR form, developed five-digit codes for each requirement, and by working with data processing, our new communication process began. Instead of handwriting each NCR form, the underwriter indicated necessary requirements in each case file. The underwriting assistant entered the code for the particular requirement. The computer was able to pull the writing agent’s name and address, list the applicant and file number, print only the necessary requirements and underwriting comments, and list hierarchal agents for copying purposes. We saved printing costs as NCR forms are expensive to print. We saved underwriting costs as we were no longer paying for examinations and blood work not needed. More importantly, we developed a more efficient and effective way to communicate with our field force, one soon applied to our Claims Department. The chaos of a five-part NCR form had been simplified with a five-digit computer code.

            In 2006, the Flagler County Clerk of Court provided a rather archaic way in which those seeking to participate in foreclosure sales had to understand. Customers from Jacksonville and Volusia County drove to Flagler County on an almost daily basis. Each would request stacks and stacks of existing and new foreclosure cases. Clerks had to pull the files, stay at the front counter while the files were reviewed, and then re-file the cases. Further, instructions for foreclosure sales were pre-printed and not provided unless the customer knew to ask for them. After being assigned to conduct foreclosure sales, I sought to bring order to a system that did not make sense. We were just beginning to scan documents as a part of a new records keeping process. We already had a website through which some information could be located. My simple change included posting the foreclosure sale instructions online so that potential bidders would know what to bring to a sale and the timeline that had to be followed. Additionally, customers from Jacksonville and Volusia had told me they only review the Notice of Sale, found in the case file. By posting the Notice of Sale online, they no longer had to travel and clerks no longer had to pull stacks of files, stay at the counter, and refile those same files. Finally, daily phone calls to determine the number of new foreclosure cases that had been filed were replaced by posting a list of new cases on the website. Three new tabs: Sale Information, Sale Dates, and New Cases transformed the foreclosure division of the Clerk of Court.

            As Obolensky (2010) provides, “the Law of Conservation of Energy… summarized as: the effort you put in will dictate the result you get out” enforces the notion of hard work instilled in me at a very young age; however, I believe concepts such as the “butterfly effect” and other theories that provide the foundation for adaptive, complex leadership are designed to help leaders understand an equally important concept, the idea of working smarter, not harder (p. 66). Yukl (2013) observes “large organizations… have an inertia that is difficult to overcome. People resist change that threatens their status and power, contradicts their value and beliefs, or requires learning new ways of doing things” (p. 284-85). The new changes had their chaotic moments at first; but, with patience and refining processes, customers were better served and savings were realized. Each change was very simplistic in nature; yet, each yielded big results, the epitome of a butterfly flapping its wings to bring about a tornado.

References

Eagle, N. (n.d.). txteagle: Mobile Crowdsourcing. MIT Media Laboratory and The Santa

Fe Institute. Retrieved from http://realitycommons.media.mit.edu/pdfs/hcii_txteagle.pdf

It’s So Blatant. (2013, Sept. 13). Chaos|Chapter 7: Strange Attractors – The butterfly effect.

            [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAJkLh76QnM

Obolensky, N. (2010). Complex Adaptive Leadership. (2^nd ed.). London, UK: Gower/

            Ashgate.

Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in Organizations. (8^th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

A633.1.2.RB_MedleyKim: From FDR to Feeling the Bern: Has Leadership Come Full Circle?

From FDR to Feeling the Bern: Has Leadership Come Full Circle?

            Today, a reflective walk down memory lane brings alive numerous conversations with beloved grandparents abut famous fireside chats and radio remarks that sought to comfort and embrace a crippled country. Parents of this generation would find the same qualities in the fourth United States’ President to lose his life to an assassin’s bullet. The Gipper brought “Morning to America” once more; and, today, millennials prefer to ‘Feel the Bern”. Obolensky (2010) states, “We hold our leaders account more now than we have done” (p. 4). A statement with which many may agree; however, as Obolensky (2010) observes, our view of leadership has changed little since the days of Egyptian pharaohs; yet, our knowledge; and, the technology that has delivered that knowledge has changed dramatically in the few short decades since Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s (FDR) fireside chats and today’s arena’s filled with Bernie Sanders’ supporters. Given the sweeping governmental programs instituted by FDR and those offered by Sanders, it is perhaps easy to see how the leadership pendulum is preparing to swing once again.

            According to Yukl (2013), “Leaders… care about people as well as economic outcomes, and they have a longer-term perspective with regard to objectives and strategies” (p. 6). Listen to anyone from FDR’s era and those grandparents will tell stories as did mine. As outlined by A & E Networks (2016a), FDR took office at a time when twenty-five percent of the nation’s workforce was without work. A collection of experimental programs, collectively known as the “New Deal”, had as its primary purpose the daunting task of restoring “dignity and prosperity” to Americans (A&E, 2016a). Sound familiar? These governmental programs would forever change the relationship with the American people and the federal government; one, that asked what the government could do for me, and, one that would be later questioned (A&E, 2016).

            The generation born to those who came to rely on those fireside radio chats to bring national and world news into their living rooms would watch news delivered by trusted anchors, like Cronkite, amidst a storm of black and white snow, complete with revolving, horizontal lines. Those who gave birth to the baby-boomers, elected the first Catholic as our leader, President John F. Kennedy. He led the Nation’s race to the moon and in his televised inaugural address, he challenged the next generation to ask what they could do for their country. Obolensky (2010) notes “the more we know, the less certain we are” (p. 16). Kennedy’s administration saw the height of uncertainty between the U.S. and the then U.S.S.R. We had emerged as a nation that had resoundingly defeated Nazism and had survived a Great Depression; yet, the quest for “nuclear weapons delivery” brought about levels of uncertainty resulting in horrific tragedies, such as the death of the crew of Apollo I and the days of uncertainty with Apollo 13; and, still American taxpayers were convinced of the need to go to the moon (p. 17). We lived in Port St. John, Florida at the height of the Apollo Space Missions. I saw how vested my parents were in their leader. 

            Baby boomers turned right and agreed with Reagan; we need not return to the economic disaster known as the Carter Administration where wearing a sweater, as opposed to increasing the thermostat was not only encouraged; it was seen as brilliant. I must say, Archie Bunker's raspberry to Carter captured the sentiment is a succinct way all understood.  Although Kennedy’s speech had been broadcast and folks turned on black and white televisions across the country; by the time the Reagan Revolution was in full swing, the technology of color television enhanced Reagan’s leadership style. He brought Madison Avenue in, assembled a “Tuesday Team”; and, “Morning Again in America” was born (A&E, 2016b). The imagery of skydivers, equipped with red, white, and blue parachutes, streaking across a pale, blue California sky, while the leader of the free-world spoke, only served to enforce the image that America needed to return to the days of yore, when we as a country did not question our self; or, our leaders (A&E, 2016b). Borrowing a line from Enigma, a “return to innocence”, is the underpinning of today’s “Make America Great Again”, trumpeted by millions. The next generation will write the pages of history to see if Bernie Sanders self-avowed socialist policies bring us full circle to the days of FDR; or, return us as that city shining on a hill.

            Bernie Sanders filled arenas with promises of free everything, including the kitchen sink. Trump promises trade that is fair to the U.S.; and, Mexico will build the wall. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat have taken politics and remarks from leaders into the twenty-first century. The very volley of left and right promises underscores that which Obolensky first notes, “leadership is mainly seen as something ‘done’ by the few to the many” (p. 18). Today, that volley is captured by a host of twenty-four-hour news stations owned by a collective few. We have had forty-four U.S. Presidents since the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Radio brought FDR into our living rooms. Black and white televisions captured a mourning nation. I still recall my mother sobbing as Kennedy’s funeral procession passed. Reagan’s ability to use the advanced technologies of the 1980s forever sealed images of Dukakis in an army tank and Carter’s sweater initiative into the fabric of Americana. Today, YouTube allows millennials to ask again what the government will do for them. Sadly, we view our President as we viewed Ramesses the Great, a single, powerful leader who can change our plight, our economic path, our weaponry advancement, and even our national conversation with one well-written and choreographed speech.

            As an observer of politics, there is a sea change; yet, there is more of a clash of political ideology than I can recall. The ‘everyone gets a trophy’ generation are quite comfortable with the programs of Sanders; while others recognize that neither Kennedy nor Reagan would be welcomed by their respective political parties, today. My grandparents and parents always reinforced nothing in this world is free; but, free college and health care sound great to a generation who find difficulty in coping with the inability to locate the Pokémon Go creature of the day. Yukl (2013) defines leadership as a process designed to influence others such that understanding and agreement as to what must be done to address needs and how “facilitating individual and collective efforts” can be accomplished so that shared objectives may be achieved (p. 7). While my view of political leadership has remained as stagnant as the mummies in the Valley of the Kings; the one-hundred and eighty-degree weather vane swing our nation seemingly experiences every four or eight years stems from that which Obolensky (2010) sites as an important ingredient for adaptive leadership, an appreciation of Tao and the balanced connection that exists between the extreme right and left of leadership.

References

A&E Networks. (2016a). New Deal. History.com. Retrieved from

http://www.history.com/topics/new-deal

A&E Networks. (2016b). Ronald Reagan Videos: Moring in America. History.com.

Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/ronald-reagan/videos/morning-in-america

Obolensky, N. (2010). Complex Adaptive Leadership. (2^nd ed.). London, UK: Gower/

            Ashgate.

Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in Organizations. (8^th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.