IBM Report - ‘Capitalising on Complexity’
Jul 22nd, 2010 by Administrator
I’ve talked about complxity before on the pages of this blog. Now IBM have produced a report that is based on interviews with 1541 global leaders. For the past three years the leaders said that their biggest challenge was change - this year they identify the big challenge to be complexity…..and half those interviewed doubted their ability to manage it!!
You can download a copy of the report for yourself but I just want to let you know the key headlines that it contains. These are based on the qualities and strategies demonstrated by the “Standouts”; those organisations that have continued to grow and develop successfully.
Creativity is key - it is THE most important leadership quality. The best companies encourage experimentation and innovation throughout the business. Creative leaders expct to make deeper business model changes to realise their strategies. To succeed they take more calculated risks than less successful organisations.
The leaders in the successful organisations find new ideas and keep innovating in how they lead and communicate.
The most successful organisations co-create products and services with customers AND integrate customers into core processes. In other words they build onging partnerships.
The “standouts” also simplify operations, show dexterity in their adaptable ways of working, they expect future revenue to come from new sources and they design operations for speed and flexibility.
The successful leaders invite disruptive action! They encourage people to drop outdated approaches and take balanced risks. They are open minded themselves and will expand their own leadership, management and communication styles.
There are valuable insights here for all of us - I recommend you at least read the Executive Summary of the report to understand the signposts. One thing is clear - business, work, community life is going to get more and more complex….and it will happen increasingly quickly!!!
Are you and your organisation/business equipped to deal with the increasing complexity?