What does it look like when leaders adopt a down-to-earth approach? What happens to enterprises that observe, analyze, and perform in sync with the environmental context?
Navigating change requires understanding the living context of an endeavor. In “The Ecological Perspective,” GLI module director David K. Hurst (Levene School of Business) introduces Arts MBA fellows to a new paradigm of leadership rooted in lived experience that sees organizations in the context of an ecological field. The framework is based on Hurst’s book, “The New Ecology of Leadership: Business Mastery in a Chaotic World” (Columbia Business School Publishing), outlining practical decision-making tools based on principles from the natural world like life cycle, creative destruction, and regenerative renewal. Hurst presents a sense-making framework to help leaders reflectively navigate change.
Here are five insights from Hurst’s Ecological Perspective —
1. Leaders extract meaning from experiences.
Leaders distill shared experiences into meaningful ideas to create a common understanding that gets everyone acting and thinking effectively.
2. Storytelling is the starting point of wisdom.
David K Hurst identifies two ways of thinking about a context: analytical and analog thinking. Analytical thinking is expansive, it takes a given situation apart for classification and analysis: analog thinking leans to experience to condense and connect elements of lived journeys in relatable webs of cause and effect. Storytelling is the glue that holds everything together and makes this wisdom understandable and relatable to all.
3. Chaos can be generative.
A dynamic blend of passion, reason, and willpower uniquely shapes enterprises. The interplay between these complex elements sows seeds of renewal and opportunity in moments of chaos.
4. Look for context.
Taking stock of surroundings is key — breaking down elements into simple structures that help form conclusions.
5. Ask questions others don’t.
Inquiry is an open approach to problem-solving. Success hinges on detecting novel details previously unconsidered. Asking the right questions unlocks the answers to future challenges.
Want to learn more about the Ecological Perspective?
About David K. Hurst
David K. Hurst is a speaker, consultant, writer, and management educator with extensive experience as a senior executive and an encyclopedic knowledge of management thought. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Regina’s Kenneth Levene Graduate School of Business, associated with the Center for Creative Leadership, and a contributing editor at Strategy+Business.
