Obama Leads Learning Organization
In this morning’s New York Times, David Brooks in his column entitled “The Analytic Mode,” argues that President Obama leads a learning organization. I completely agree. In the past I’ve argued that President Obama is an intentional connector in part because he is a bridge builder who accords respect to his political opponents and because he solicits the ideas and opinions of his advisors then considers them before making decisions. This leadership approach creates Connection Cultures that keep members of his administration feeling connected so that they give their best efforts, align their behavior with organizational goals and take the risk to communicate information, especially information the president may not want to hear but needs to hears. President Obama might also be described as an “integrative thinker” who employs a “design thinking” approach. What do you think?
Here are links to resources that will help you consider the wisdom of President Obama’s approach in general and specifically with respect to the decision to commit additional troops to Afghanistan.
David Brook’s NY Times column entitled ”The Analtytic Mode”
Speech I recently gave at Google on Connection Cultures and the “The Force of Connection”
Dean Roger Martin of The University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management on the Integrative Thinker and Design Thinking
For some perspective on a president’s decision to increase troops, listen to this Bill Moyer’s program that includes taped conversations President Johnson had with his advisors prior to committing troops to Vietnam.
Michael Lee Stallard is President of
Michael:
Watching Obama think has been an intriguing preoccupation of mind ever since he opined in his inaugural address: “As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.”
I bolted squarely upright when I heard that because it is the precise thinking move that I argue that highly successful thinkers make when faced with an unpleasant trade-off. Rather than choosing one or the other, they define their job as crafting a better alternative – all the while listening to people tell them that they have to choose one of the existing options right away.
I gave a short speech on this clip at Oxford last year and it is at:
http://rogerlmartin.com/library/media-clips/social-innovation
Cheers and keep up the great work.
Roger
Michael,
Yes, I do consider Obama to be a design thinker-in-chief. He often re-frames problems, looks beyond existing options and thinks through scenarios by engaging diverse voices. You and David Brooks have highlighted an aspect of the presidency that deserves far more attention. Otherwise, the value of this way of leading will be overshadowed by demands for simple answers to complex problems that have been developing for a long time.
Also, the consequences of jumping to either/or answers needs to be more widely understood.
In an era of competing sound bites, maybe a marketing campaign-type approach by his supporters could specifically sell Obama’s integrative thinking as way of making decisions suited to high stakes, complex times. Something a bit beyond the popular pre-election notion of “no drama Obama” is in order now.
Roger,
Thanks for your comment, words of encouragement and for the link to your talk at Oxford. Over the weekend I enjoyed watching your presentation. After the clip finished playing, I followed a link to Vimeo and discovered videos of several other presentations you gave, including a fascinating talk and interview with Peter Drucker. I think Drucker was right to say that “what you are doing in Toronto at the Rotman School may be the most important work that is happening at any management school today. Not because of specific courses but because of the underlying mentality.” The videos I watched presented some thought-provoking ideas and I’m looking forward to watching the remaining videos shortly.
With best regards,
Michael
Sharon,
Thanks for your comment. Excellent idea. I’ll give some thought to writing an article on it and submitting it for publication.
With best regards,
Michael