35 Organizational Thinking creates Resilient Leadership

Today, I focus on the leadership aspect of Barriers and Boundaries Resilient Leadership. And in that, leadership can increase organizational thinking with role-based focused (at every level), resilient leadership with adaptability and balanced thinking, and increased organizational thinking with systemic awareness with external alignment. 

Some of the references for the episode are:

1. Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Sage Publications.
2. Heifetz, R., & Linsky, M. (2002). Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading. Harvard Business Review Press.
3. Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading Change. Harvard Business Review Press.
4. Senge, P. M. (2006). The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization. Doubleday.

 

Team Building Exercise: "The Strategic Web"

Objective: To help team members understand the interconnectedness of their roles and how their actions impact the organization as a whole, fostering organizational thinking and collaboration.

Materials:

• A large ball of yarn or string
• A marker board or flip chart
• Sticky notes

Instructions:

1. Preparation:

• Before the exercise, prepare a list of different roles or departments within your organization (e.g., marketing, finance, HR, operations).
• Write these roles on sticky notes and place them on the marker board or flip chart in a circle, representing the organization’s structure.

Introduction:

• Gather your team in a circle. Explain that the goal of the exercise is to visualize how each person’s role is connected to others within the organization and to understand the impact of their actions on the broader organization.

Creating the Web:

• Start with one participant who represents a specific role (e.g., marketing). Give them the ball of yarn.
• Ask them to explain briefly how their role connects with another role in the organization (e.g., marketing to sales). They then pass the ball of yarn to the person representing that role, holding onto the end of the yarn.
• The next person (e.g., sales) does the same, explaining their connection to another role, and passes the yarn on while holding onto their part of the string.
• Continue this process until everyone has had a chance to speak and the yarn has created a web connecting all participants.

Discussion:

• Once the web is complete, take a moment to discuss what it visually represents. Ask participants to share insights about how interconnected their work is with others and how actions in one area can have ripple effects throughout the organization.
• Discuss how understanding these connections can improve collaboration, communication, and strategic thinking within the organization.

Reflection:

• Conclude the exercise by asking each participant to share one thing they will do differently in their role to contribute to the organization’s overall resilience and success.
• Write these reflections on the flip chart as a visual reminder of the commitments made during the exercise.

Outcome: This exercise helps team members visualize the complexity and interconnectedness of their organization, promoting a deeper understanding of how their roles contribute to the bigger picture. It also fosters a sense of shared responsibility for the organization's success, encouraging more strategic thinking and collaboration across departments.