This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "The Practice of Adaptive Leadership" by Ronald A. Heifetz. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
Like this article? Sign up for a free trial here .
What is an adaptive leadership style? What does “leading adaptively” entail in practice?
An adaptive leadership style is a leadership approach oriented towards tackling adaptive problems—challenges that are brought about by unexpected circumstances, that have no known solutions, and that require a fundamental change to solve. Leaders who adopt an adaptive leadership style constantly assess the landscape within which they operate and the adaptive capacity of their organization to make sure they have what it takes to adapt effectively.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the three main qualities of adaptive problems, the traits of adaptive leaders, and some tips for practicing an adaptive leadership style.
What Is Adaptive Leadership?
An “adaptive leadership style” is marshaling people to tackle problems with unknown solutions and thrive while doing so.
- (Shortform example: When a sales company expanded into a new region, adaptive leaders marshaled people to figure out what sales processes—or what completely new procedures—would work best in the new region’s market.)
These problems with unknown solutions are called “adaptive challenges.” The only way to solve them is for the people in organizations to learn and change. (Challenges with known solutions are called “technical problems” and can be solved using existing workflows and expertise.) Adaptive challenges have the following qualities:
- Loss. To move forward, old ways have to be left behind.
- Resistance. People resist change because they fear the loss that comes with it.
- Discomfort. Since the solution is unknown, addressing adaptive challenges involves experimentation, iteration, failure, disorientation, and conflict, all of which must often be uncomfortably endured for a long time.
Four Tips for Practicing Adaptive Leadership
Here are some tips to keep in mind throughout the process.
Tip #1: Get help from a partner or a team. This is for two reasons: It’s less lonely, and it’s easier for people to resist or stop a single person (you) than a group.
There are three reasons people try to lead alone even though it’s a bad idea:
- Their opponents isolate them. For example, an opponent might tell you how brave you are to be striking out alone, manipulating your positive feelings around courage to keep you isolated.
- Their friends let them be the guinea pig and only follow once it’s safe. (Shortform example: Your allies might hold off publicly supporting one of your interventions until they know that their bosses don’t oppose it.)
- Their passion gives them tunnel vision. For example, you might believe so strongly in your cause that you under-communicate, thinking the same things that are obvious to you are obvious to everyone.
———End of Preview———
Like what you just read? Read the rest of the world's best book summary and analysis of Ronald A. Heifetz's "The Practice of Adaptive Leadership" at Shortform .
Here's what you'll find in our full The Practice of Adaptive Leadership summary :
- How to deal with unknown solutions that require innovation, experimentation, and adaptation
- How to determine if a problem is technical or adaptive
- Five tips for launching initiatives to address adaptive challenges
