Innovation is a hot topic these days. From what I have seen, organizations have been outsourcing innovation for the last 10-15 years. It began with a reliance on ad agencies and then shifted to “design” companies like IDEO and JUMP. Now the business airwaves and media announce the need for more innovation, faster and more radical than ever before, and the literature of full of “how to innovate” books and articles.

It seems easy to say we want to innovate, but it feels like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, you are leaving all you know behind for a visit to Chaos. Confronted by all the mystery and disorder that precedes innovation, our challenge as leaders is to help people make meaning of the journey. As Dee Hock describes, “Making good judgments and acting wisely when one has complete data, facts, and knowledge [control] is not leadership. It’s not even management. It’s bookkeeping. Leadership is the ability to make wise decisions, and act responsibly upon them when one has little more than a clear sense of direction and proper values; that is, a perception of how things ought to be, an understanding how they are, and some indication of the prevalent forces driving change.” In this sense, innovation is the end product of a disruptive cycle of Adaptive Change.

To innovate is to intentionally let go of the “way things are” and welcome “the way they could be.” Breakdown is the first step toward innovation, an intentional release of established habits of thought, expectations, assumptions, and beliefs in order to embrace “not knowing”. The concept of surfing the “edge of chaos” sounds exciting until you get there and leave control at the door. In Adaptive Change we call this the Fall.

Fortunately, Breakdown doesn’t last. As we confront the mess, we naturally make meaning of it, allowing order and Breakthroughs to emerge – the “ah-ha” moments that we love to experience. The journey from Breakdown to Breakthrough, the Cauldron of Change, is a period of stress (high enough to motivate and mobilize, and potentially immobilize), uncertainty, and unpredictability. There is no clear way forward, we are reduced to trial-and-error experimentation. This is a period that requires a rapid and straightforward learning cycle, one that encourages experimentation and taking smart risks as you learn your way forward. Sense-Test-Adapt, a biomimetic cycle that is just what it says, propels you forward as order emerges from the chaos. The faster you cycle the faster you learn.

Breakthroughs get you out of Chaos and into Complexity – you are half way home but you are still not “in control”. Complexity requires Imagination, which takes you beyond creativity and taps into mystery. Mystery allows us to explore “things in our environment that excite our curiosity but elude our understanding. [1] In the complex domain hunches and ah-has pull us forward by removing extraneous information and linking up ideas to form a system of inquiry. In this way novelty is morphed into a myriad of possibilities.

With all these possibilities we begin to follow our hunches to their logical conclusions, picking one or two and applying all our knowledge, know-how, technology, etc. to understand them. In this way we make the imagined “real”, manifest as products, programs, services, and art. Making “manifest” is the phase I call Innovation. Innovation without the journey through chaos and mystery is evolutionary at best, incremental most often. Innovation as the conclusion of the full cycle is revolutionary, tapping into our most creative spaces and pulling forth something remarkably different from where we started.

Do’s for leading innovation

• Foster an environment of imagination, exploration, acceptable risk, and “what ifs.” Meet the Devil’s Advocate at the door and refuse them entry.
• Give people time to think, toys to spark off, and diverse partners to play with. The resource needs and costs of Innovation rise over time. Resources that drive early innovation, Breakdown, Breakthrough, and Imagination, are mainly emotional and psychological support. No leader can afford to ignore these intangible costs for the foreseeable future.
• Relax when things seem out-of-control, it is part of the process and can’t be skipped. Focus people on moving their “crazy ideas” forward and making sense of them.
• Apply the innovation cycle to your leadership development…hummm, now that’s a thought!

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[1] Roger Martin, The Design of Business, p9.

Leading and Working in Complex Human Systems

As the stakes go up…

In our “dance with the butterfly”—our continuing conversation about human systems—we have examined The Butterfly Model of Complex Human Systems, the three major sub-systems that make up a human system, and how the face to face world is a stage on which the systemic drama plays out.

In this post, we will focus on two questions: What happens in Human Systems “as the stakes go up”? (Stakes = threat, risk, importance x difficulty). How can you lead most effectively in these kinds of situations?

It is useful to think of the behavior of Human Systems on a continuum:

Interactions in Low Stakes Situations

Interactions in Medium Stakes Situations

Interactions in High Stakes situations

In each of these scenarios, Human Systems exhibit different kinds of behavior.

In LOW STAKES situations, interactions are usually pretty much what they appear to be. Individuals’ profiles are at play, but not in a demonstrable way. Conversations proceed smoothly.

In MEDIUM STAKES situations, metaphorically, the heat goes up a bit. People’s repetitive patterns of behavior, while they may not dominate the interaction, start to become more visible. For example, if a person gets anxious when conflict occurs, in low stakes territory they will probably not experience much anxiety. In medium stakes situations, they start to feel some anxiety that other players may detect.

In HIGH STAKES situations, a number of more visible shifts tend to occur.

• Most notably, forces from the larger external system and the deeper internal systems tend to interject themselves more directly into face-to-face interactions.
• For example, in a bankruptcy, lawyers, buyers, and bankers bombard the executive team; most of their face-to-face conversations are about finances, possible buyers, and what the lawyers are telling them.
• Some people get “hooked”. That is, their deeper insecurities, shadow material, and unresolved issues are triggered.
• When hooked, people tend to revert to long-standing learned ways of reacting to threats—behaviors that may have been appropriate for the situations in which they learned them but that are not effective responses to the present pressures. The anxious person tends to move into a state of higher anxiety.
• In high stakes situations, the darker parts of our systemic stories (see my earlier series of posts re “Unleashing the Power of your Story”) interject themselves into our feelings and behavior. Some people may cry; some may yell or bang on the table, others may withdraw.
• People are more apt to get into “stuck” interactions with one another. They feel like they are in a trap that they can’t see.
• In most extreme cases, two or more players can become locked in what for them is a very old conflict. That is, rather than responding appropriately to pressures in the current situation, people may behave more like they have learned to respond to threats historically. They get caught in a ritual impasse in which they are both reacting to the shadow sides of their deep stories rather than to the current dilemma.
• They become locked in mortal combat, but, as far as dealing with the present issue and reaching resolution, they totally miss one another.
• They believe they are talking about the same things, but they are not. For example, on person may have learned that to survive and be noticed in threatening situations, he must loudly claim his place and resist others. He raises his voice; he yells.
• Another player may have learned that, to be successful, she must take control.
• These two players can become locked in conflict, one becoming louder and louder and the other trying harder and harder to gain control of the meeting. Each individual feels compelled to behave in ways he or she mistakenly feel will make them safe, but, all the while, the situation becomes both more stuck and more chaotic.

Guidelines for Leaders

How can you lead effectively in these very difficult situations?

1. Learn to read the room and detect whether your team is in a high, medium or low stakes situation.
2. Be aware of your on tendencies in high stakes situations. Learn to manage your own foibles. With practice, functioning effectively in high stakes situations is a learnable skill.
3. Be aware when you, and/or a number of other players in an interaction, are feeling hooked.
4. Help people learn to step back from threatening situations and see them in a different light.
5. If people cannot extract themselves in the moment, disengage–take a break or table the issue until a later date.

If you want to explore leading in high stakes situations further, feel free to contact me.

Meanwhile, good journey…

Steven P. Ober EdD

President: Chrysalis Executive Coaching & Consulting
Partner: Systems Perspectives, LLC
Office: PO Box 278, Oakham, MA 01068
Home: 278 Crocker Nye Rd., Oakham, MA 01068
O: 508.882.1025 M: 978.590.4219
www.ChrysalisCoaching.org

Steve is a senior executive coach and consultant. He has developed and successfully uses a powerful approach to leadership coaching, Creating your Leadership Story, which enables leaders to make deep, lasting improvements in their leadership effectiveness in short periods of time. He and a group of partners have created a breakthrough educational program, Coaching from a Systems Perspective, in which you can significantly enhance your abilities as a systemic leadership coach. See http://SystemsPerspectivesLLC.com

Managers often forget that praising employees, telling someone they are doing good work, brings a smile, good cheer and greater commitment to their job.

Employee recognition for good performance is one of the simplest and easiest ways to encourage people to do their best work. Don’t underestimate the need people have for recognition. It provides these three major benefits:

• It lets people know that their performance is valued, and increases the likelihood that they will continue to perform well.
• It builds confidence so that people are willing to try new things, and develop further in their jobs.
• It costs nothing and the payoff can be enormous -highly motivated employees who go the extra mile for the customer.

Here are three quick and easy ways to praise.

1. Direct Recognition:
Give a subordinate a direct compliment for good performance. Example: “John, you did a great job of dealing with Mary this morning. She was being difficult, but you stayed very calm.”
2. Third-Party Recognition:
Encourage someone else to offer recognition for good performance. Example: “Sheila, it was Tony who made sure we completed our agenda yesterday. Why don’t you tell him how well he did?”
3. Formal Recognition:
Respond to good performance by doing something official. Example: Memos to other (colleagues, your manager, upper management, personnel file) or mention at a staff meeting or management meeting.

Management Success Tip

Giving direct praise is probably the most commonly used form of employee recognition. However, third-party, and formal recognition are also effective to encourage people to do their best work. Remember, most people feel they get too little recognition for what they do; very few feel over-recognized.

How have you recognized others? How have you been recognized? What do you think is the best way to encourage people to do their best work?

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Fast track your leadership. Be part of a Success Team.
• Need a speaker? Get the Edge keynotes-webinars-workshops.
• Copyright © 2012 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

Interpersonal communication is a common and important topic in Executive Coaching. Because direct and open communication fosters trust, enhances information flow and builds stronger relationships, it is imperative that we keep communication a priority.

Here are 8 coaching tips to enhance interpersonal communication:

1. Vague messages – when you receive vague messages, define the issues in concrete terms so all parties are clear about what is being said.

2. Be timely and clear – let people know in a timely way about information that effects them. If you are unable to address their request, let them know this and when you can get to it. If you need information from them, let them know the timeframe.

3. Difficult conversations – address as soon as possible. Avoid letting what needs to be said fester, as it tends to get worse.

4. A rule of thumb – when a conflict arises, address it in person. If unable to meet in person, then talk via phone.

5. Conflicting messages – if mixed messages come up in a conversation, articulate the discrepancy, ask questions and summarize to come to a common understanding.

6. Re-cap – at the end of a conversation, restate the main points, who will do what and the timeline.

7. Disagree agreeably – consider other people’s input. Reasonable people don’t need to get their way; they just need to be heard.

8. Daily check-up – at the end of the day, ask yourself what occurred that should be reported to other people.

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

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Pam Solberg-Tapper MHSA, PCC – I spark entrepreneurial business leaders to set strategy, take action, and get results. How can I help you? Contact me at CoachPam@cpinternet.com ~ Linkedin ~ 218-340-3330

The book I find most useful during Adaptive Change is The Practice of Adaptive Leadership by Ron Heifetz, Alex Grashow, and Marty Linsky.

When Destabilizing Events arise our first response is to act, and in some cases this is the best response. But those cases are actually rare. In order to truly understand the adaptive potential of the situation so that you can emerge from the change with a better system design, leaders need to begin the journey in reflection (pp 44). Go slow at the beginning so you can go fast at the end.

There is much to reflect on during the Fall. And getting this first phase of the change cycle “right” is essential to the whole journey – it sets the tone and the mood of the entire organization. Therefore, I start with Part 4 of the book – See Yourself as a System.

Beginning here emphasizes that everyone is a system and leaders must work within a system of systems. Leaders who begin Adaptive Change by acknowledging their own personal learning agenda have a leg up on those that plunge in and begin to direct the action. The more open you are to your learning the faster you can move from the Balcony to the Practice Field, the better you model the learning cycle for others, and the greater your ability to adapt in real time. There are many learning cycles in the literature, but I have developed and use a very simple one that contains only three phases: Self-Awareness, Self-Discipline, and Self-Direction.

Self-Awareness: This combines taking the observer role with situational and personal insights to understand the forces acting around you and within you. Self-Awareness requires you to be emotionally and mentally available to yourself and how you are interpreting and behaving in the moment.

Self-Discipline: It is not enough to just observe the systems around you – you need the discipline to be “who” you need to be to deliver the change you seek. This means being present, understanding the roles you can assume to drive the “Big Picture of the Moment.[1]”

Self-Directed: When you understand the roles you are playing in the moment you can direct the action, taking it where it needs to go in the present situation. At this point you are an observer of the larger system, again moving between the Balcony and the Playing Field and integrating what you learn for the “whole system” that you are working with.

Like the toggle switch on your computer, this cycle – Self-Awareness- Self-Discipline- Self-Direction – moves you from the system of self to the larger system and back to the system of self. The faster you can move through this cycle the more present, reflective, and adaptive you can be.

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Karl Weich and Kathleen Sutcliffe, Managing the Unexpected, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2007.

Have you ever hired someone who did not live up to expectations? I’m sure many of us have at one time.

A wrong decision can be very costly. It’s been estimated that replacing a key professional or manager can be three to five times their annual salary. Do you want to increase the odds for selecting the best person for your most critical positions?

Then try behavioral interviewing instead of the gut feel approach

This is gut feel: “Mary seems right for the job…so let’s hire her.” However, when she came on board, she didn’t perform and had to be let go. Mary may look good on paper or even interviewed well but she did not have the specific skills and traits that were needed for the job. Therefore, the hiring process started all over again.

Now take a look at behavioral interviewing. It focuses two very important elements of the interviewing process:

1. Identifying the required skills and traits that are needed to be effective for the particular position.
2. Asking the right questions to obtain a behavioral example of a specific skill or a specific trait you are looking for.

The rationale for asking for behavioral examples is the notion that the best predictor of what individuals will do in the future is what they have done in the past. Therefore, you ask an applicant to describe a specific event that shows in detail how she did something or handled a problem or dealt with a specific situation.

Behavioral example questions typically start out with the following phrases to encourage the person to talk about their experiences in a non-threatening manner.

• “Tell me about a time when….”
• “Give me an example of….”
• “How did you….?”

Note how the following question has been rephrased so that it will elicit an answer that explains how the person dealt with a specific situation.

Original: “Have you had experience training new supervisors?”
Revised: “Tell me about a time when you had to hire and train a new supervisor. How did you go about it? Would you do anything differently?”

Management Success Tip

Remember, the purpose of the interview is to obtain accurate information for selecting the best person for the job. Behavioral interviewing is a technique that focuses on an applicant’s skills and traits not on a manager’s gut impressions.

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Fast track your leadership. Be part of a Success Team.
• Need a speaker? Get the Edge keynotes-webinars-workshops.
• Copyright © 2012 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

When leading Adaptive Change, you have the opportunity to design the journey initiated by Destabilizing Events so that you can reach the future you desire. Because the actual path you take is unknown and can’t be predicted your leadership provides direction but you cannot control the process. As each person, team, or division moves through Adaptive Change, the organization experiences divergence and convergence. Your ultimate success depends on your ability to lead a portfolio of change. Regardless of your scope of leadership, your actions widely impact other people, functions, and clients.

I once tried to graphically capture this portfolio concept and it is worth looking at the mess that change creates. Without trying to explain this picture, you can see the mess. Clearly we are working in a connected, interdependent system.

Look at the left side of this picture, the place where Destabilizing Events pull us away from the Status Quo, the organization reacts by initiating transactional change, and the Red Line is induced – we call this initial phase of Adaptive Change “The Fall.” It is like stepping off a cliff and being both weightless (exhilarated) and speeding toward some unknown “down there” (scared breathless).

Most leaders are totally unprepared for the mess that occurs at the beginning of Adaptive Change. It is hard to see any patterns in the graphic, let alone a single overarching theme, and, for those of you down in the mess, the way forward is anything but clear. Yet there is something beautiful about it. But when things are unclear and we feel that rock in the pit of our stomach, what do we reach for?? Command and Control – the Alka-Seltzer of management!

So here is an alternative way to lead the system during the Fall – Appreciative Inquiry[1]. There are many ways to use Appreciative Inquiry (AI), and many practitioners out there using it if you want some help. For Adaptive Change I use a version developed by Bruce Flye.

Conversations for the Fall

During the Fall, everyone needs a rudder so they can navigate the mess, leaders included. This iterative AI cycle is that rudder. Using it in the form of a conversation, you can continuously find your way forward through the mess.

Going all the way back to the PDCP change initiative I believe the key to success was the conversational format I used. As the facilitator, I asked questions and then created the space (context) for them to be answered (content) by the teams I worked with. I learned early on (mainly because I was overwhelmed with meetings) that the teams had to own the work. I left every session empty handed and they took the flip charts and created the outputs.

Lest you think this was easy, give it a try. I often spent the first half hour trying to convince the group that they even had opportunities, aspirations, and a vision. Because people are operating from a predictive and often negative mindset, change and the future seem too “squishy” – certainly not something you can plan toward. Mess, yes. Squishy, no.

Go in to these conversations prepared with stories such as the 1960’s “man on the moon” challenge or the beginnings of Amazon. Jeff Bezos[2] has built a company on rapid prototyping Adaptive Change. Ask them how Oprah Winfrey[3] constantly stayed ahead of the competition without mastering Adaptive Change. As a leader you will have to hold the organization’s feet to the fire and you can only do this if you take a positive stance. AI lets you do this. The AI conversation can be held anywhere and everywhere in the organization. The output generated provides the directional leadership that people and the organization need to navigate the mess that they are experiencing.

The conversation goes something like this:

Inquire: Begin by identifying the positive, set the stage for engagement and look for who is already succeeding.

Imagine: Explore the Vision that is pulling you forward. Let people dream and connect with each other; this includes other parts of the organization, community, and stakeholders.

Innovate: Take what you have Imagined and make it real. Innovation requires sensing the environment, testing your ideas, and adapting them as they are implemented using rapid prototyping.

Implement: I often ask groups to write down 3 things they can do in 30 days. Help people find the obvious next step and do it. When that is finished, the next step always shows up.

This brings you back to Inquire and off you go on another conversational cycle.

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[1]http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/

[2] http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/bez0bio-1

[3] http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/win0bio-1

Have you ever made a hiring mistake — selecting the wrong person for the position?

Most of us, who are or have been supervisors, have had to deal with the consequences of a poor hire. It can eat up one’s time and energy and weaken an entire team. However, a good hire can take the weight of the world off your shoulders.

So why do so many managers fail to hire the right people for the right jobs? Here are the top five hiring mistakes supervisors make. Make sure you don’t.

1. Failure to prepare.
When managers are so busy dealing with multiple issues everyday, they may not have the time to do the front-end homework that is required. Find the time because bad hiring decisions can be costly in terms of your time and your money.

2. Failure to identify success factors.
You must go beyond the job description. Make a list of the qualities to be successful as a service champion, for example. It could be two or three or it could be 10. Then go out and find people to match those qualities.

3. Failure to evaluate correctly the person’s skills.
If the position requires someone who is detail-oriented, then determine if the candidate has this skill either through the use of behavioral interviewing or through some form of assessment.

4. Failure to deal with a poor fit.
Something changed. Maybe the job, the organization, or the person changed. Maybe everything changed. Many people end up in the wrong place because they stayed in the right place too long. So the right place can become the wrong place over a matter of time.

5. Failure to be patient.
Sometimes the person is in the right place, but they have to grow into it — they have to be trained and developed. You know they have the talent they have the ability, they have the passion; but they need time and someone to help them.

Management Success Tip

Remember, good hires are never an accident. It is always the result of good preparation, good interviewing, and good decision making. So stop making hiring mistakes and start selecting the right people for the right jobs.

Look for our next post “Behaviorial Interviewing” – How to increase the odds for selecting the best person for the job.

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Fast track your leadership. Be part of a Success Team.
• Need a speaker? Get the Edge keynotes-webinars-workshops.
• Copyright © 2012 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

Do you put off dealing with employee performance problems?

Many managers struggle with their reluctance to deal with an employee regarding poor performance or inappropriate behavior. Here are some concerns I’ve heard:

1. “I don’t want to rock the boat, especially when the employee is performing the function even if not up to expectations.”
2. “Correcting an employee’s performance or behavior might spark a decision to leave. Then where will I be…no one to do the job.”
3. “I’m not sure how to discuss tough issues with them. I’m concerned they’ll become defensive or even explode.”

As a supervisor or manager, it is your job to make sure work gets done right and in a timely manner. What happens when someone is not meeting the standards or expectations? The problems will continue and will soon affect others. Now you have a bigger headache. Deadlines are missed; Customer satisfaction goes down. Resources are squandered. And you’re working harder and longer. It’s time to STOP procrastinating and START dealing with the problem NOW.

Here are 5 performance coaching tips.

1. Act promptly.
Deal firmly with poor or marginal performance. If certain behaviors – coming in late or not filling out forms right – appear acceptable, then the person will see no reason to change. The problem continues. Your good performers will have to then pick up the slack. Morale goes down. Now you have a bigger headache.
2. Know the facts.
Identify and document specific behaviors that need to be changed. Decide on the most important issues.
3. Know the target.
Think about the employee and how to give the feedback in a way that it will be understood, accepted, and acted upon. Choose an appropriate time and private place.
4. Know the results you want.
Communicate your expectations or standards and then ask the person how he will meet them. Listen, give input and finally agree on a solution.
5. Avoid the sandwich technique.
That is tucking the negative comment between two positive statements. Your intentions may be good, but it doesn’t work. A better sequence: First the criticism, second the strengths, and third the future or what you want them to be doing differently.

The key elements of performance feedback are to focus on the problem, not the person; listen more than talk; have the person, not you, take responsibility for solving the problem.

Management Success Tip

Think of someone you supervise or manage who you need to coach to improve performance. It does not have to be a major issue just something that needs to be changed – coming in late, not following SOP’s, filling out the forms wrong, etc. Let me know how it went.

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Fast track your leadership. Be part of a Success Team.
• Need a speaker? Get the Edge keynotes-webinars-workshops.
• Copyright © 2012 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

Turbulence describes the business environment over the last 25 years, and there is no sign of it letting up. This means that leaders for the foreseeable future will be surrounded by our old friend VUCA – volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Turning this into an opportunity to adapt requires that we ask the right questions.

The Wright Brothers were not the only ones pursuing flight, yet they are considered the first ones to achieve it. What did they do differently? More specifically, how did they approach the VUCA of imagining, building, and testing a flying machine before one existed? Isn’t this what Apple does so well?

While other designers of aircraft sought stable flight (think American Auto Industry), the Wright Brothers were the only ones interested in unstable flight. They asked the question: How can a “dipped wing” (one wing dropping lower than the other) be manually controlled while air borne? This led them to the finding that twisting or warping a wing would increase its lift. By designing instability into the system, the system (an aircraft in flight) became resilient to the constantly changing flight environment and responsive to manual control. Paradoxically, flexibility produced dynamic stability. All you frequent fliers still see this today, the wings of aircraft flex and undulate during flight. Simply put, the turbulence of the environment (air flow) is absorbed by the dynamic stability (designed instability) of the system (plane). Or, the plane adapts to the conditions of the environment as they rapidly change.

It may seem that I am beating the drum on this but what is the number one thing that executives ask the organization to do every year? Predict what will happen and then write an operating plan against these predictions. Under these conditions, is it any wonder that when VUCA winds blow and organizations are “forced to change” their efforts are bound to fail 70% of the time? Adaptive Change is about designing and leading organizations that are built for unstable flight!

So let’s start…get a pencil and paper and answer these questions by doodling, mind mapping, or drawing – whatever you do, get your right brain involved:

• What environmental conditions are most likely to create turbulence in the next 12 months? Include political, social, environmental, economic, technological, customer variables (values, experience, lifestyle, desires), and last and most predictable the actions of your competitors.
• What will increase the probability any of these will happen (amplify the conditions)? What will decrease the probability (dampen the conditions)?
• What future am I trying to create within these conditions?
• What 3-5 conditions of turbulence do I want to be ready to adapt to? These become the Destabilizing Events that you track closely over time and include in your operating plan.
• What does unstable flight look like in these conditions? This becomes the framework of your operating plan.
• What must I do as a leader to alert everyone to these variables so that they are watching for weak signals of their presence and telling me when they suspect them?