" The very highest leader is barely known Then comes the leader they know and love Then the leader they fear Then the leader they despise.
The leader who does not trust enough will not be trusted. When actions are performed without unnecessary speech
The people will say, ”we did it ourselves.”
Lao Tsu


 

Thought leadership
Rod Beckstrom

Many of us will recall the well tried ice breakers and group exercises at management training workshops in the 80s and beyond. “Think of the company, business or organisation that you work for; and now think of a car. What kind of a car is your company” was the usual intro line by the work shop facilitator [or words to that effect]. In those days I used to drive a Beetle so I was always quick to fall back on that brand; reliable, dependable, strong and one which provides value for money [ my dream is to drive something stylish].

The use of the metaphor as a tool for talking about organizations was well popularized by Gareth Morgan’s book Images of Organization and on the growing interest on organizational discourse. The genre continues to this day and remains a powerful rhetorical device but the language is a bit esoteric save for a handful of books that have captured the spirit and focus of such thinking in an accessible, engaging and highly informative mode.

One such example is that of the work of Rod Beckstrom co author with Ori Brafman of The STARFISH and the Spider [Portfolio 2006]. Rod is chairman and chief catalyst of Twiki.Net.Inc and founded CATS Software Inc. He sits on a small number of Boards and is now a sought after Consultant and Thought Leader. The sub title of the book is “ the unstoppable power of leaderless organizations” and there is a certain paradox here as most of the current and yet to come summaries on the theme of this bulletin ie. What can we Learn about Leadership is about the vitality and value of leaders and leadership so why a discourse on leaderless organisations?

It is evident that from the basis of his r argument and his work that Beckstrom strongly believes that leaders can gain a great deal of insight from the Starfish and the Spiders , used here as metaphors for decentralized and centralized organizations. On a cursory glance, the starfish appears similar to the spider in appearance as each has a number of legs sticking out from a body. Cut of a leg or two and it may survive with the rest. But when you cut off an arm of the star fish, it has the capacity to regenerate itself; a severed arm will grow into a new star fish.

Some features of decentralized organisations:

  • There is no one in charge;
  • If you thump it on its head, it survives
  • There is an amorphous division of roles
  • If you take out a unit, the organisation is unharmed
  • Knowledge and power are distributed
  • The organisation is flexible units are self funding
  • Working groups communicate with each other directly

Beckstrom’s work causes us to think a great deal about the benefits and power of decentralised organsiations and specifically in context of front line teams . Not withstanding the formal and bureaucratic overarching nature of the NHS at the point of care, multiple disciplines of professional people come together as teams to deliver care whose standards may be set externally but who none the less will need to exercise judgment, use initiative, be responsive and now in respect of High Quality Care for All think more deeply about the quality of the patients’ experience.

Front Line Teams will need to be invested in as they are in key position of delivering care that matters. Investing in them according to Beckstrom should come from a leader who has a specific set of attributes. Beckstrom labels this person as a CATALYST.

A Catalyst is:

  • One of us : a peer who has a genuine interest in us , our work
  • He/she is has gained the trust of peers and others and trusts them in return
  • Able to meet people where they are ; is emotionally intelligent; has very good interpersonal skills
  • Is well connected both within and outside the team/ group
  • Works collaboratively ; is skilled at mapping connections and is inspirational
  • One who has a tolerance for ambiguity
  • Knows when to get out of the way.

Beckstrom is a great story teller and he has crafted a work and story of much inspirational value. His story telling brings alive the potential of creating flexible and responsive organisational arrangements that can deliver value to stakeholders and customers alike.

 

This summary comprising the work of thought leaders will be added to incrementally by further contributors on weekly basis. However we would like to hear about the key sources of your own learning. Please let me know whose work has made an impact on you and we will try to add a short account on this to the web site. Kindly drop me an email at vidal@aeneasktc.com

 

 

Peter Drucker Emanuel Gobillot Harrison Owen Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff Don Tapscott Dr David Cooperrider Dr Marshall Goldsmith Rosabeth Moss Kanter Prof Lynda Gratton Rod Beckstrom