Reality
and strategic acumen went out the window during the referendum campaigns for
the UK to leave or remain in the EU. Both camps were very polarised between
people who seemed to be blindly optimistic about the opportunities of going it
alone and others who had severe scepticism about the economic impact of having
to renegotiate hundreds of trade and security agreements. How well are you balancing your optimism and
scepticism about your current situation?
The
leave result shocked the nation (including many on the Leave side!) and the UK
was thrown into political turmoil by the intense feelings that 1 million people
felt about the country being better off out of the European Union. It was extraordinary to see the government
unravel within hours of the result and to watch a vicious but thankfully short
leadership campaign for a new Prime Minister.
I
was pleased to see that the most moderate candidate won overwhelming support
and that the other main contender quickly backed out of the race because it was
clear she could never win. It was also
clear that a bitter 9 week campaign would only create more economic uncertainty
in an already volatile situation.
Balancing Traits
The
early signs are that the new Prime Minister has realistic optimism about the
situation. She has chosen a broad range
of people with very different views to be in charge of governing the country
and its relationships with the rest of the world. She has removed or kept-out the people with
the most extreme and rigidly held views.
This is a clever move and it will be very interesting to see whether her
new Secretaries of State will be able to temper and balance the strong traits
they demonstrated during the campaign.
For
example, will the people who demonstrated blind optimism be able to balance it
with some thoughtful analysis of the potential pitfalls so they can avoid
mistakes that could have serious consequences for the lives of UK and EU
citizens? Will the people with severe
scepticism be able to pick themselves up and balance their cynicism with
optimism and a positive approach that will make the most of the situation?
Capacity to change
As
many regular readers of my articles will know, humans have an amazing capacity
to change but it takes self-awareness and effort. When we have a rigidly held view it can be
very difficult to acknowledge, let alone understand, the opposite point of
view. For example, the unbalanced optimist
is so positive and enthusiastic that the thought of analysing potential
problems or pitfalls feels negative and defeatist. They tend to see people who want to raise
difficult issues or highlight the need for more analysis as being awkward and destructive. They can quickly label these people as being
negative and refuse to listen to them, interpreting any challenge of their own ideas
or position as a personal attack.
On
the other hand the unbalanced sceptic will view the optimist as unrealistic and
not grounded in reality. They can
quickly become irritated by their lack of willingness to scrutinise their ideas
and dismiss them as having inflated egos with little strategic judgement.
Don’t miss the hidden
truths
These
opposing views were clearly demonstrated during the Referendum campaign and it
was quite shocking to hear some senior people on the Leave side say “experts
cannot be trusted” or those on the Remain side say “the economy will collapse”. The truth is never that simple. It is dangerous to make universal blanket
statements about your opponents or the situation you find yourself in. Doing this means you will miss the hidden
truths or the subtle realities that you would perhaps prefer not to
acknowledge. Those truths may make you
doubt yourself which feels very uncomfortable and psychologically painful, so
your ego kicks-in to protect you with spurious blanket statements that dismiss ‘the
others’ as stupid or ignorant and not worth listening to.
A
more enlightened and wise approach is to balance your optimism with a healthy
dose of analysing pitfalls. To be an
effective leader, we require a willingness to set aside our ego and really
listen to what others are saying. We
also need to acknowledge obstacles and difficulties, explore them fully without
losing sight of the bigger picture and recognise that by including a variety of
view-points and opinions we are stronger than trying to figure it all out
alone.
Strategic Acumen
The
paradox of Strategic Acumen is neatly illustrated by one of the very powerful
and insightful Harrison Assessment reports.
It takes the traits of ‘Optimistic’ and ‘Analyses Pitfalls’ and puts
them in a graph that produces four sub-traits.
The
developer of the tool, Dr. Dan Harrison has found a proverb for each paradox,
the one for Strategic Acumen says: “Keep a positive attitude about the future,
but be mindful of difficulties when they are small.” This implies that you are able to maintain
optimism and your belief that the future will be bright, even when faced with
significant obstacles. You are also not
afraid to scrutinise potential pitfalls and address issues when they are still
small or in the distance. So rather than
hoping they will go away if you ignore them or pretend they are not there, you
are willing to face them and make changes to your plans.
The
paradox is illustrated below:
The
trait of ‘Optimistic’ is defined as the tendency to believe the future will be
positive. The trait of ‘Analyses
Pitfalls’ is defined as the tendency to scrutinise potential difficulties
related to a plan or strategy.
Each
Paradox is designed to give a very simple insight into the imbalances that
arise when one trait is strong and the other is weak or underdeveloped. For example, the trait of ‘Sceptical’ is the
tendency to overly emphasise the potential difficulties of a plan or strategy
without giving sufficient emphasis to the potential benefits (low Optimistic
and high Analyses Pitfalls). Being ‘Blindly Optimistic’ is the tendency to
focus on the possible benefits of a plan or strategy, while failing to
adequately see the potential difficulties (high Optimistic and low Analyses
Pitfalls). When both traits are
under-developed or neglected you have ‘Careless Pessimism’. This gives the unfortunate tendency to take
risks without due consideration of the pitfalls while at the same time
believing that the future is bleak (Low Optimistic and Low Analyses Pitfalls).
‘Realistic
Optimism’ is the wise and balanced approach.
This is the tendency to analyse the potential pitfalls of a plan or
strategy while maintaining a positive view of the future and the potential
benefits of the plan or strategy (High Optimistic and High Analyses Pitfalls). It means your self-esteem is high enough to
face the uncomfortable facts of a situation and make appropriate changes and
not allow your belief in finding a good outcome to be shaken.
You need to provide
the antidote
As
a leader, your level of strategic acumen is being carefully observed by your
directors, managers and your people.
They will all have their own opinions based on their traits and you need
to consistently communicate and vividly describe your vision of a brighter
future while demonstrating your ability to stay grounded in reality by
scrutinising plans for potential obstacles.
This
can sometimes be a challenge, especially when there is increasing volatility,
uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) in the commercial, economic and
social environments. We are more
interconnected and interdependent than ever, and the new political situation
that the UK finds itself in is having global implications.
Your
leadership skills will need constant development, whatever level you are
already at, because you now need to provide the antidote to VUCA by
articulating your ‘Vision’, seeking to ‘Understand’ even more, providing
‘Clarity’ for your people and maintaining the ‘Agility’ to flex and adjust with
the changes that are going on all around us.
Increasing self-awareness
After
overcoming my initial shock of the referendum result, I have been listening to
more of the arguments that I found it difficult to hear during the campaign. I’ve been scrutinising my own scepticism and
analysing my optimism. I now firmly
believe that while it will have its challenges we need to focus on making the
best of the situation we are in and use our wisdom to build on our strengths,
protect the vulnerable and collaborate with partners for mutual benefit.
Developing
and maintaining the balanced versatility of Realistic Optimism will be the key
to your success over the coming months and years. What are your traits in this paradox? What are the traits of your senior team? Are there any imbalances that could lead to
poor strategic decision-making or missed opportunities?
Navigating
the current economic uncertainties will require a learning mindset and high
levels of self-awareness. It is difficult
to lead others if you can’t lead yourself because you are still driven by your personal
tendencies and biases.
What
do you need in order to maintain your optimism while being open to scrutinising
your strategies?
The
Paradox of Strategic Acumen is only one of twelve paradoxes in the Harrison
report. If you would like to read more
about them, you can catch up on some of the others on the Inspired Working Blogs (you can
find them by looking for the illustrations similar to the one above).
To
explore where you stand on the Paradox of Strategic Acumen and discover your
key strengths please contact Amanda at info@InspiredWorking.com. We also facilitate Team reports so you can
identify the strengths and imbalances in your key teams. This can lead to powerful insights that
increase strategic awareness and effectiveness.
With best regards,
David Klaasen
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