As Ron Heifetz states, "people in authority are under tremendous pressure to provide easy and decisive solutions to problems." This is true for government leaders, business executives, and project managers. Unfortunately, some problems don't have easy technical solutions. They are what Heifetz refers to as adaptive challenges, and they require very different kind of leadership capability.
Ronald Heifetz is a Senior Lecturer in Public Leadership and co-founder of the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is known for his groundbreaking work during the past two decades on the practice and teaching of leadership and his research focuses on how to build adaptive capacity in societies, businesses, and nonprofits.
To help illustrate the point, Heifetz distinguishes between two types of problems: Technical and Adaptive.
Technical problems are easy to identify. They often lend themselves to quick and easy solutions, and they can be solved by an authority or expert. Often the solutions can be implemented quickly or even by edict. People are generally receptive to technical solutions because they are straightforward and read like step-by-step instructions.
Adaptive problems, on the other hand, are difficult to identify and often easy to deny. They require changes in values, beliefs, roles, relationships and approaches to work. They usually require change in numerous places and they cross defined boundaries and turf.
Adaptive problems require that the people with the problem do the work of solving it. The solutions can take time to implement because they often require experimentation and a iterative process of discovery. There is no predefined solution. There is no expert with the answer.
Some signs you have an adaptive challenge?
Crisis
Problems resurface time and again
Persistent conflict
People will need to learn new ways of behaving or working
Current know-how won't solve the problem
Collaboration is required to solve the challenge
Organization change is always an adaptive challenge. When change initiatives fail it is usually because the pressure to meet deadlines, budgets, and competing objectives pushes project managers to treat adaptive challenges as if they were technical.
And moving up the food chain, the executive sponsors of change projects also fail for the same reason. Pressed to meet financial objectives, they often overlook the complexity of the adaptive challenges and set inflexible expectations, hoping their edict will drive employees toward success.
Outsourcing and technology implementations, merger integration, divestiture, restructuring and leadership transitions are adaptive challenges. Yes, they do have significant technical components, but ultimately, the success of these initiatives will be determined by how well the adaptive challenges were managed.
And that's not about the answers. It's about framing the right questions and listening for the deeper understanding required to guide others to solutions.