Leading In Order and Chaos
We can look at the behavior of almost any corporate or governmental executive to discover both chaos and order in 21st Century leadership. The manager of a large Western city government, for instance, recently prepared a plan for decentralization and a performance management system that encourages broad-based participation and consensus-based decision-making.
The men and women who work under this city manager were encouraged to introduce this new plan and system to their subordinates in a timely manner. These efforts are certainly consistent with the appreciative trend toward collaboration and teamwork. They exemplify a thoughtful and orderly process of change. Yet, according to one of this city manager’s subordinates, the process, as actually enacted, was chaotic and counterproductive:
The idea was a good idea, on paper. It was a change strategy encouraging less authority from the boss and more delegated accountability/participation within the lower rank management team. Consistent reporting loops would keep top management informed but not involved with every minute decision. It was breaking down the number of people (to smaller size) involved in making the decision. The system was attempting to be [appreciative]. The problem with the system became apparent when managers, top to bottom, did not trust each other to model, report, and consequently carry out the service to the citizen. They did not know how and the frustration became modus operandi for staff.
