"From Visionaries to Operators to Caretakers"

In a December 13, 2008 NY Times op-ed piece, Tom Friedman says, "The auto consultant John Casesa once noted that Detroit’s management has gone from visionaries to operators to caretakers."

Hmm, visionaries to operators to caretakers. Visionaries see what is not and create it. Operators manage what is for optimum performance. Caretakers take care of that which is in decline, possibly ready to expire. That cycle is not limited to the current auto industry. What is sometimes referred to as the Organizational Life Cycle is very prevalent. And while no one sets out to be a caretaker, that is exactly what many end up doing.

So, what separates a visionary from an operator and a caretaker. Is it a matter of "risk-taking?" Is it an unusual capacity to see things that are not as though they are? Luck? Divine favor? All of the above?

I'll leave parsing that out to wiser parsers. What I will say is that conformity is what will insulate you into being carried along in the Organizational Life Cycle. Maybe wanting to insistently and consistantly ask, "Why is it better if we keep on doing it that way?" is a step towards keeping you leaning towards innovation and envisioning.

Yesterday's logic or today's "playing around?"

Peter Drucker said, "The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday's logic."

We are creatures of habit and our tendency is reach for the known as we face turbulence. Yet history shows us that doing the same old thing "one more time" can lead to catastrophic failure.
As our world seems headed into continual turbulence or, as Peter Vaill first termed it, "permanent whitewater," what does leadership look like and what does leadership do?

The Center for Creative Leadership had a blog post last June entitled, "Leadership in permanent whitewater: Playing with the metaphor." It suggests some interesting lessons for leaders from whitewater canoeing such as:

• Chaos in organizations is not random. Organizational turbulence is full of patterns. There are almost unimaginable layers of order enfolded within chaos. The nature of the order can be quite surprising, and is sometimes invisible to conventional wisdom. Turbulence can be an enormous aid, rather than an impediment, to prediction and control. Find new ways to learn the patterns--to "read the river." The development of this kind of perception is a core competency, not a frill.
  
• Play is essential within organizations if people are to develop an eye for patterns within chaos. Play is essential for action and innovation within chaos. Being consistently rule-bound is crippling. Serious play is a vital supplement to traditional learning. Organizational play requires safe places in which to break rules, make mistakes, and recover--and then try it again, and again. Find the higher-order rules which govern breaking rules with relative safety.
  
• Fundamental innovation can come from serious play at the fringes of organizations. Groups of mavericks busy violating common sense aren't all that bad. Making sense of chaos is ultimately a community venture including both the center and the fringe. Make room in the community for both the center and the fringes (and make sure any "skunkworks" are not in exile from the community).

Hmm, what do you think?