This is the fourth of a five-part series about the Future Thai Leader 2020 study. The coming Asean Economic Community (AEC) will only be one change of many our institutions and leaders will need to face in the near future. For Thailand to succeed and thrive in the future, we must be able to handle change effectively in every aspect of our environment.
The study, conducted by the APM Group and Bruce McKenzie, a pioneer in systemic studies, has identified strategies to develop capabilities that enable us to handle change. This series discusses these improvements and strategies to implement them.
In the previous articles, I discussed some of the findings of phase two of the study — some strategies to implement the findings, and details on the strategies themselves. In this article, I will go into more depth about how these strategies interrelate and support each other, how they combine to create a greater whole, and how they can be applied in very different organisations.
Three capacities a future leader will need to thrive in a changing environment are trust in leadership, continuous learning, and long-term and short-term thinking. We wouldn't think these three very different capabilities would support and reinforce each other, but a closer examination of the systems involved shows how each of these skills actually makes the others stronger.
One strategy for implementing each capacity is Building Trust, Organisational Learning, and Accommodating Short- and Long-term outcomes, respectively.
Building Trust: Personal trust comes from fair, capable and competent leaders, but a system for building a culture of trust requires transparent processes, accountability for actions at all levels, and a culture of listening to input from all sources. The short-, medium- and long-term steps for creating this system focus on creating not only the processes but also the communication skills that transparency requires.
Trust creates an atmosphere where subordinates are not afraid to propose ideas they think will help the company, and to tell superiors that they are about to make a mistake. People work harder and stay longer at jobs where they trust and feel they are trusted in return.
Trust is also a force multiplier. That means an atmosphere of trust can make processes where frank and open communication is needed many times more effective. It makes people far more willing to question conventional wisdom, a key part of innovation. It supports people asking questions and sharing lessons learned, a vital part of continuous learning. Finally, trust gives people the confidence they need if they are to think about the long-term impact of various solutions, as opposed to finding the fastest and cheapest solution regardless of long-term consequences.
Organisational Learning: This refers to how well a company knows itself. Building a system that supports organisational learning means developing a culture within which peers challenge assumptions, having processes for identifying and improving ambiguous procedures and policies, and teaching skills needed to effectively examine and analyse the processes and procedures they work with.
This is a constant process. In an environment of constant change, the company that doesn't change quickly to meet new requirements loses any edge it may have. This is the part of continuous learning that enable companies to identify what changes they need to make in themselves to match changes and opportunities outside the company.
The skills and processes that organisational learning requires are ones that benefit from, and can help build, trust. Open and honest communication can quickly identify improvements and build trust at the same time. Examining processes builds understanding about how the company works, and makes people far more capable of identifying and understanding the impacts of solutions over the long term. A company that knows itself well is far more capable of successful change than a company that does not.
Accommodating Short- and Long-term Outcomes: Building systems to support this strategy requires developing critical analysis skills, creating processes that can implement long-term solutions and generating a culture that supports taking a longer view.
One key aspect of this strategy is making people aware of the problems with short-term solutions. Finding root causes and long-term solutions is better than only looking at proximate causes and quick fixes. Quick fixes are often necessary to keep things running smoothly, but we cannot stop there. Quick fixes need to be identified as temporary, and long-term solutions found and implemented.
Long-term thinking is made far more effective when people know their company well, and understand potential problems and how they can be avoided. Long-term thinking helps build trust among people by demonstrating that the company is not just concerned with the immediate issues, and it builds a feeling of stability. In the other direction, people who feel trust are more likely to suggest long-term solutions that may save the company a lot of money or effort.
So far we have seen how these seemingly unrelated strategies actually interrelate, and make each other stronger. Companies that build all of these systems will see the benefits but no two companies are alike. A strategy that works well for one may not work at all for another. How can a number of systems be effectively built up in different companies when there is so much difference between companies? What kind of template can be used that will work for everyone?
The answer is actually quite simple: no template should be used. Creating systems that are effective and self-sustaining is not something you can do with a checklist. Each company needs to systemically analyse current systems, and identify the systems and skills they already have, those that will be fairly easy to build, and those that will require a lot of support. Then they need to plan how to build the systems they need without disrupting the systems they have that work. This process is going to be unique for each company.
In the next article I will go into more depth about how companies can analyse their systems and identify what areas are strong and what areas are not. I will also summarise the findings of phase two of the Future Thai Leader 2020 project.
Arinya Talerngsri is the managing director at APM Group Thailand. She can be reached by email at arinya_t@apm.co.th