Opening Up Alternatives for Managers Stuck with Complexity
ISBN: 978-1-83797-317-0, eISBN: 978-1-83797-316-3
Publication date: 30 October 2023
Abstract
Why is it that highly trained and seasoned executives fail? On the surface, this doesn’t make sense because they are very successful; yet research in the organization sciences provides no shortage of evidence to prove just that. From the classic Mann Gulch fire disaster of Weick’s famous collapse of sensemaking study, to studies of myopia of learning, escalation of commitment, threat-rigidity, dominant logic, the architecture of simplicity, the Icarus Paradox, to core competencies turning into core rigidities, and navigating new competitive markets using “old” cognitive maps, and many more such examples point to a ubiquitous phenomenon where highly trained and experienced professionals find themselves “stuck” in the heat of battle, unable to move and progress. On the one hand, for some, there is a desperate need for change, but are unable to do so, due to their trained incapacities. On the other hand, some simply cannot see the need for change, and continue with their “business as usual” mentality. For both, their visions of the world shrink, they have a tendency to cling onto their past habitual practices and oversimplify the complexity of the situation. In moments like these: DROP YOUR TOOLS and UNLEARN! This book chapter introduces a framework (grounded in clinical psychology) that has had consistent success in helping seasoned executives and key decision-makers open up the alternatives whenever they find themselves stuck with complexity.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments
I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Guest Editor, Robin Gustafsson, Series Editors Robert J. Galavan and Kristian J. Sund and anonymous reviewers for providing invaluable constructive and developmental feedback in the crafting of this book chapter. I am also indebted to the following scholars who have each provided me with much inspiration and sympathetic yet challenging discussions in the development of this, my life’s work on the FOCUSED project: Michael Harris Bond, Chetwyn Chan, Ray Fells, James Grice, Allegre Hadida, Gerard Hodgkinson, Timothy Jachner, Devi Jankowicz, Erinne Kennedy, Marianne Lewis, Roger Martin, Harry Procter, Jan Rivkin, Wendy Smith, Philip Stiles, Richard Whittington, and David Winter. I am also indebted to my Head (Wu LIU) and Faculty Dean (Edwin CHENG) for supporting my sabbatical leave at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine’s Centre for Medical Education at the National University of Singapore; and to Dujeepa D. Samarasekera and his amazing A-Team at the Centre (CenMED) for hosting me at NUS. Funding for this chapter is generously supported by the Department of Management & Marketing Learning and Teaching Enhancement Grant of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Citation
Wright, R.P. (2023), "Opening Up Alternatives for Managers Stuck with Complexity", Sund, K.J., Galavan, R.J. and Gustafsson, R. (Ed.) Cognitive Aids in Strategy (New Horizons in Managerial and Organizational Cognition, Vol. 6), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 11-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2397-521020230000006002
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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