informal coalitions

Scientific research meets (but fails to recognize) the complex dynamics of organizations

I recently attended a brief presentation of some extensive academic research into leadership performance. Leadership here referred to the contribution of the organization's ‘top man’ or ‘top woman’.  So far as I could judge, the research had been carried out impeccably in terms of established academic rigour. But, in abstracting from the complex reality of organizational life on which the research was supposedly focused, the subsequent conclusions were, to my mind, seriously flawed.

The research sought to draw causal links between the backgrounds of those in the most senior leadership positions and the comparative success of their organizations, as defined in the research.  The central proposition was that those whose backgrounds satisfied the particular criterion identified in the research would make the best leaders. Simple.

But none of this took account of the complex social dynamics of organization through which "success" - and indeed "leadership" - emerges in practice.

“There is no such thing as society” - An informal coalitions perspective

Around 25 years ago, the then Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously said,

"There is no such thing as society."

Clarifying her view, she went on to say,

"There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves."

Women's Own magazine, October 31 1987

In an apparent contradiction of this position, her latest successor David Cameron has put what he calls "the Big Society" at the centre of his party’s political philosophy. However, according to the Conservative Party website, its aim is to help people,

"To come together to improve their own lives. The Big Society is about putting more power in people's hands - a massive transfer of power from Whitehall to local communities. We want to see people encouraged and enabled to play a more active role in society."

In ideological terms, then, there appears to be little difference between the two positions as regards the sought-after action ‘on the ground’.  In Lady Thatcher’s terms, though, this represents a denial of the very idea of society and a belief in the sovereignty of individuals. Whereas today’s Prime Minister sees it as the essence of society in action. So which of them is right?

The focus of informal coalitions is on the underlying dynamics of human interaction, rather than on the ideological stance that such interactions might reflect. And, viewed from this perspective, they are both right. And both wrong.

Ignoring the complexity and humanity of organizational life

I never expected to be writing a post in Informal Coalitions based on the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury. But yesterday morning I caught a snippet from Justin Welby’s first Easter sermon, as this was being reported upon during an early-morning radio programme.

It was the following extract that particularly caught my attention:

"I wonder how many people here think that the future will be better than the past, and all problems can be solved if we put our minds to it. There is a general sense that if that is not the case then it ought to be, and someone must be doing something to stop it. Illusion is replaced by disappointment, both wrong.

The hero leader culture has the same faults. A political party gets a new leader and three months later there is comment about disappointment. An economy suffers the worst blow in generations with a debt crisis and economic downturn, and the fact that not everything is perfect within five years is seen as total failure. Complexity and humanity are ignored and we end up unreasonably disappointed with every institution, group and policy, from politicians to NHS, education to environment [my emphasis]."

It struck me that these words of the new head of the Anglican Church provide a much needed ‘reality check’ on the widely held assumptions about how things happen in organizations and wider society. Assumptions, for example, that there is a ‘right answer’ to all of the problems that we face; that ‘doing things better and getting them right’ is all that’s needed to realize the desired future; and, most pervasive, that our fate hinges on the actions of a few ‘special’ individuals.