Scaled Systems Leadership

Network and Ecosystem Leadership

Is it possible to organise complex ecosystems to achieve a shared purpose?  Indeed is it possible to organise something which by nature is emergent, uncertain and comprised up of autonomous and semi-autonomous parts? Often with powerful agents? Are there clear guidelines that might help?

The questions this chapter seeks to answer.

  • What are the general principles of large systems design? For example – does a shared sense of purpose exist or is latent and requires articulation? What are the  activities taking place in the system and are they broadly understood?  
  • What are the characteristics of large systems leadership?  Achieving progress among diverse,  often conflicting part of a large scale systems requires different skills from those running an enterprise.

This chapter focuses on answering these questions using two specific examples; the global response to COVID 19, the other, an emergent, thriving global ecosystem of volunteers, committed to sustainable living.

Networks operate at different scales of complexity serving all manner of purpose.   For example, businesses operate a range of commercial networks serving diverse needs.  Behind networks sit organisational structures. Evolutionary trends now see  Agile, Platform and the multi dimensional enterprises emulating the principles of Systems Leadership.

Other networks exist for special interests, we know about terrorist networks and hear of the dark net.  Social media connect relationship networks, promote and organise specific causes (e.g #MeTo, Extinction Rebellion, BLM, Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street).  The internet has enabled the mushrooming of this online phenomena, while COVID 19 has enforced dependency. 

As networks scale in size, stakeholders, functionality and diverse purpose, ecosystems emerge around shared interests.  Accompanying scale, comes complexity, uncertainty, disruption, ambiguity, surprise and hyper-connectivity.  

Complexity. pencil on paper. A Olivier. 2020

Before addressing the two case studies of a pandemic and a voluntary global movement, the following observations are pertinent to the analysis;  

  • Shared purpose – the need to identify key players / stakeholders, activities, and nodes of development within the associated networks or larger ecosystem. Engaging stakeholders in creating common ground, shared purposes and domains of authority and accountability is necessary. This is a first step, accomplished through a helicopter view of mapping and collective learning. 
  • Leadership of scaled, social networks and ecosystems is different to leading an accountable goal directed business. Large scale systems leadership requires a different set of meta competencies to galvanize and orchestrate diverse stakeholders. 
  • Different tools for building collaborative leadership are required to build trust, advocacy and communication flows.  Top down command and control is not optimal because of systems complexities.   Tools which connect, engage and empower are critical. Understanding there is no master neuron, no one is in control or has complete authority is a fundamental mindset. Therefore leadership maturity and wisdom is fundamental.
  • Leveraging complimentary capacities to advance progress is essential and that is done by having clarity of vision and understanding it’s all up to us.
  • What’s going on in the System – Understanding the activities and developments within the ecosystem’s different networks is important.  By understanding stakeholder’s involvement and contributions, one can create empowering and autonomous conditions.  It is important for leadership to know what is going on rather than giving instructions. This is the requisite leadership at scale.
  • Leadership can cluster ‘what is going on or needs to be going on’ into one or more existing or emergent domains of work. This  allows the ‘chunking’ of activities into semi-autonomous parts. Through understanding the semi-autonomous nature of the parts, empowerment of local decision making, relevant information flows and distributed accountability and authority takes place.
  • Complex adaptive systems operate at different speeds and scales of complexity and thus have different design requirements. Activities (work) within the parts of the whole ecosystem can be grouped into Domains, regardless of purpose.
  • Understanding the nature of existing or emergent Domains of activities within large complex systems (think COVID 19, UNSDGS, global emergencies) allows for recognizing relevant accountabilities and authorities, information requirements and flow, empowerment and decision-making rights at all the different network levels, from local to strategic.

We call this Scaled Systems Leadership. This chapter seeks to explore network activation, activity chunking and systems leadership competencies.

Let us now turn to COVID19 and The Global Ecovillage Network…

Notes to this Extract

1. An ecosystem refers to multiple networks within an umbrella of shared interests.  Networks are regarded  as bilateral cooperation while ecosystems are multilateral – ie will work with anyone in the ecosystem. 

2. Andrew will be presenting a series of Masterclass sessions with the Singapore Institute of Management in 2021 and Requisite (as required by the nature of things) Leadership of Scaled Systems will be on the topics.

3. My thanks to Reos Partners for the invitation to their workshop in Geneva at the UN Innovation Lab in 2018, to David Nabarro and Peter Atkinson, for their input at the 4SD lab in France in 2018. Thanks to the GEN ecosystem (fellow trustees and network members), for gently showing me the real complexities/ challenges of consensus leadership. Also thanks to Gillian Stamp for taking EJ’s work from hard physics of design into the nuanced and messy world, now just being discovered in OD. All this has really formative in thinking about fractals of work activity at scale.

Doing Good is Good Business

The Bridge to the Future.. heaven or hell?

Doing Good is good business

How often do you hear these words?

I had an interesting meeting with the sustainability team at Pick n Pay in  Rondebosch, Cape Town.  I listened intently to what they were doing across a broad range of fronts; from making the company compliant with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), to applying sustainability principles, bringing young entrepreneurs and small suppliers into their huge value chains.  And integrating it all together under the new brand, People n Planet.   Like Coles, or Woolworths, or Tesco in the UK, Pick n Pay is a household home name to millions; and they do amazing work, assisting the communities they support.  Pick n Pay employs 52,000 across many African countries. 

The business conditions are tough. In South Africa the unemployment rate has recently hit 27%, an all-time high, with youth most at risk.  The same corrupt political party has, unbelievably,  been returned to power. Mind you, after seeing our own Australian elections, nothing surprises me.  So, President Ramaphosa, the country has high hope for you, after Zumagate and his gangster state. 

Raymond Ackerman, the PnP founder, has a philosophy of ‘Doing Good is good business’. It is a family run business and I have known their current chairman, Gareth Ackerman since 1995. Gareth is as passionate about ‘Doing good is good business’. He suggested I have the meeting with their Sustainability team.

At that meeting, I discussed the work of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) and many of its recent initiatives, stressing that the GEN culture is actually opposed to mass consumerism and market capitalism. So what are we doing NOW collaborating with business?  Simple, we have no other option to make changes quickly, other than collaborative effort.  And the maxim of doing good, is good business,. comes into play here.   Many forward thinking businesses are actively concerned about aligning with the SDGs to assure their futures.

New or more of the same harder?

I spoke about ecotourism and that at the UN conference in PNG in June where as part of a panel on sustainable tourism, I would talk about how we want to develop a value chain that is not build around the top brands. In fact the opposite.  GEN Oceania and Asia (GENOA) is putting together a unique value proposition; an ecotourism project,  that so far spans nine countries in Asia and Oceania.

GENOA is united in its desire to give people a beautiful, unforgettable and defining life experience.  We want to expose them to a different way of living, loving and learning. GEN has a beautiful culture that values individuals, the group and the community. It offers deeply memorable ceremonies and experiences, just waiting to be shared and learnt.  It values life experiences over material possession, and understanding of the journeys we all are required to make.

We want to take our guests into these exciting communities. Off the normal tourist path, the big name brands and the tight ecosystems that support them. Like Pick n Pay, we want to develop alternative value chains. Value chains or networks all working towards a resilient and exciting future.  Those who have joined our learning experiences, report it as being transformative.

Our social business model in turn help communities upgrade their own villages (meeting spaces, infrastructure, kitchens, accommodation, gardens), stimulate economic activity (local goods, education, tourism, cultural celebrations) and bring resources to regenerate. (environmental regeneration, food, energy, water security, social networking and cohesion).

But the ecotourism forms part of our larger Ecovillage Transition Programme.  This programme transitions traditional villages towards a sustainable future.  Most of the world still lives in small villages and communities.  We have signed a JV with Tower Insurance in New Zealand to work with communities in Fiji .  Doing good is good for business

With climate change, population growth and diminishing global capacity, sustainability is no longer a nice to have.  And that is why forward thinkers, like the insurance industry and some retailers understand the risks in the future. And take action.

GEN is present in South Africa, I explained.   With so many living in poverty and so many drawn to the city looking for work and a better life,  the call to action is HUGE.  I was gratified by the Pick N Pay team seeing the benefits of stepping into the future together on a different path. But as much as business needs to respond,  GEN who has so much to offer, also needs to organise for  a bigger future. It needs business and business needs it.

Some of the documented and positive outcomes of the Ecovillage Transition Programme is;

  • Eradication of poverty
  • Increased well-being
  • Food, water, energy security
  • Restoration of ecosystems
  • Strengthen social cohesion, systems of governance and management of conflict
  • Building accountable institutions
  • Gender equality
  • Improved education
  • Strengthen local economies and create employment
  • Cross sharing of principals and ideas to enrich both GEN and local communities
  • Sustainable living practices
  • Mitigation and preparation for impacts of climate change 
  • Awareness of and active supporters of the UN SDGs, their importance and relevance  and how these impact and are supported by the communities

Doing good is good business.

Gareth Ackerman