The Emergent Problem Of Leadership

Why do we keep having problems?

I see Leaders all over the place struggling with one Problem or another with their Teams, Businesses, Organizations, Customers, Public Perceptions, and even themselves.

It always seems that Leaders try to Solve one Problem, only to be met with the Same Problem in a Different Way, or new Problems they weren't expecting.

You fix a Problem in Sales, only for it to negatively impact Accounts Receivable.

You fix how you Interact as a Leader with one Person, only for another Person to react negatively to your Change in Communication.

You fix a Problem in Product Design, only for Customers to Despise it and Demand something different.

It always seems like whenever one thing is Changed, it causes other Problems in other places.

Why does this always seem to happen?

It's because the Reality is that most Leaders Fail to Understand that they are part of an Emergent System.

If you are like me and need the definitions of words you don't understand (yes, I frequently find myself using a dictionary or Google to learn new words), then you probably want me to explain what an Emergent System is.

Emergence is an aspect of Systems where Individual Pieces do not have certain Qualities, but when these Individual Pieces are Combined they exhibit new qualities that can ONLY be seen when Combined.

Leaders tend to see Individual People, Individual Departments, Individual Products, and Individual Customers.

They think that all of these work "Separately".

Oh - That's a Sales Problem!

Oh - That's a Problem with "that" Employee!

Oh - That's a Product Problem!

This Perspective is completely wrong though!

When you look at things like this, you miss ALL of the Emergent Aspects of the Larger System.

When you look at a "Sales" Problem, you only see what "Sales" does.

It is like looking at your Femur and trying to "Fix" it without considering how the Femur moves in its interactions with the Knee and the Hip.

By Focusing only on the Femur, you might "Fix" a Problem there, only for it to cause more and potentially worse Problems for the Hip and Knee, which could spread further causing issues in the Ankle, or Foot, or Spine.

You are looking at a Part while Failing to Understand the Whole.

We Fail to see that with Individuals to the Teams.

We Fail to see that with our own Individual Stresses and the Burnout that comes from them.

We Fail to see that with the Interaction between Business and Customers.

We Fail to see that with the Supply Chain to the Product.

Then we Fail to see all of the other Interconnections between all of these Parts!

If we want to have Success as Leaders, we can't Fail to look at the Emergent properties of what we Oversee.

That is why we must understand Human Psychophysiology to Succeed as Leaders - for we work with Humans and sell to Humans who are Impacted by the Emergent Qualities of Being Human.

That is why we must understand that All Flourishing is Mutual.

If we see aspects of the Entire System that are NOT Flourishing, then the Entire System will Fail.

If you study Physiology, there is this concept of Muscle Imbalance.

Essentially, it is when we make One Muscle Group too Strong and Fail to Improve a Connected Muscle Group, which quickly Leads to Stress, Damage, and the Body Failing to work correctly.

THAT is EXACTLY what happens when one aspect of a System "Seemingly" is "Flourishing" while other aspects of the System are doing Horribly!

It is only a matter of time before something literally Bursts and you end up in the Hospital.

This is also why Leaders need to understand how to Design a Regenerative Legacy.

Regeneration is about Fixing the aspects of the System as a whole, fixing those Emergent Qualities, so the ENTIRE System can Flourish.

Legacy is about making these Fixes occur for the Long Term, so they continue to Impact and Improve the System as a whole.

"Quick Fixes" don't work.

Going "Slowly" will only allow the "Degenerated" Aspects - Employees with Burnout, Customers Struggling to pay for Necessities, and Supply Chains being run Dry - to only get significantly worse.

Leaders need to start seeing the Emergent Properties of the Systems they are in and Regenerate them Quickly, for the Long Term.