Written by Kimberly dela Cruz Odom
Every business strives for competitive advantage: how do we smash the competition, and grow market share and profitability, irrespective of how we get there. Or do they?
Management studies are describing collaboration or joint problem solving with suppliers, customers and competitors as the path to growth and sustainability.
Examples include Apple inviting code writers to add to and improve its iPhone and other apps; and Eli Lily, the drug maker, spinning off InnoCentive.com that charges clients ('seekers') to broadcast scientific problems on a website where scientists (solvers) are offered cash – usually less than $100,000 – for solutions; more than 50 challenges are now pending.
Oppositional or collaborative. Which is the best way forward? Are you flexible enough to do both? Within a business we can find similar challenges on style, approach and values.
Glenn is the divisional GM of a very traditional multimillion-dollar organisation. He is leading his division of scientists through the transition from excellent scientists to excellent, commercially attuned scientists. A scientist himself, he earned his management experience and reputation by working through the ranks at well-known and respected competitors. He has accepted the challenge to "commercialise" the division – to bring it into the cut and thrust of today's business world.
A business focus makes many of his team uncomfortable after all they are scientists! They are dedicated to making the world a better place. How much they spend, how they advance their work and how they share their findings should not be reduced to commercial imperatives.
They are absolute in their traditionalism! They understand the reason for the business emphasis but it's such a different paradigm that they try to ignore it.
A highly respected senior scientist, Martin, is leading covert white-anting about Glenn's ability to lead and effectively manage the division. Martin's Machiavellian tactics have produced a handful of complaints against Glenn about favouritism he is showing Cheryl, a star scientist.
Cheryl and her team create much of their work by collaborating with colleagues. Their projects are recognised by the international business community and have brought in more revenue than almost any other team. The perceived difficulty is that Cheryl is Glenn's wife.
On the face of this, this just looks like a hairy, but not unusual management challenge. At a deeper level these behaviours are actually a clash of values: traditional, purposeful, absolutistic, vs commercial innovation and market participation, vs aggressive undermining to preserve an old way or hide an inability to transform into a new way vs collaboration, consultation and co-creation to create anew.
It is never either/or, and always "and". If you desire to become a truly successful leader who creates growth, increase in market share and profit, encourages innovation and collaboration and can handle staff "behaving badly", then you have at least two distinct challenges:
1) Can you identify the predominant underlying values driving your staff without being drawn into the drama being played out because of those values?
2) Do you know your own dominant values? Is your behaviour flexible enough to not only understand the values of your staff but also draw on their cloak of values while interacting with them so that they feel heard, understood and can therefore do their best work?
If you can do this you can effectively lead a competitive organisation for the long term in any environment.
Kimberly dela Cruz Odom facilitates evolution, personal, organisational and societal, using values based evaluation. Contact her at Kimberly@Aurai-Integral.com
