OBLIQUE LEADERSHIP
Increase the likelihood of emergent success.
Design environments.
Develop people.
Perform effectively.
Obliquity, in business, is the principle that outcomes are best achieved through indirect actions in complex environments.
This is due to the challenges of complex environments that come from constant change, ripple effects, circular feedback loops, & unknowable outcomes. And our human organizations operating in a global, hyper-connected, socio-economic landscape is just such an environment.
Oblique Leadership amplifies obliquity by providing leaders the tools to shift from a directive style of leadership that is addicted to control and certainty, towards a leadership style that focuses on environment design, developing people, and improving emergent outcomes.
Connect with others interested in Oblique Leadership, virtually and in-person!
WHAT IS OBLIQUE LEADERSHIP?
Oblique Leadership's indirect approach to influence primarily focuses on environment design. Acknowledging the non-deterministic nature of complex environments, the goal is to increase likelihoods that desired outcomes emerge by applying adaptive learning to evolve the environment's fit-to-purpose.
However, environment design alone is insufficient. So Oblique Leadership also has a focus on developing ourselves and others to adjust to, and thrive in the new environment. All while appreciating the humanity and honoring the history of the individuals involved in our organization designs and socio-economic environment.
Finally, leaders often need decisions to be made. Continuing in the theme of working effectively in complex environments, a paradigm shift in how decisions are made is also necessary. Oblique Leadership adds a focus on democratizing decisions, growing healthy accountability, and leveraging optionality.
NOTE ON LEADERSHIP:
Leadership is a journey. It's both an ever-evolving field of research, study, and application as well as a personal trek of continuous learning, practice, and reflection. Oblique Leadership hopes to be a useful part of that journey, but encourages you to keep learning!
OBLIQUE LEADERSHIP OVERVIEW
OBLIQUE LEADERSHIP CONSISTS OF THREE THEMES
The three themes provide an indication of how to approach the practices implemented in any given practice area.
Develop people
Design the environment
Perform effectively
EACH THEME HAS TWO PRACTICE AREAS
There are numerous existing and future practices that will be applicable in each practice area. Ultimately, a practice needs to be a good fit with the practitioner, the impacted people, the situation, and the stated objective to be successful.
Develop People
Be Self-Aware
Help Others Thrive
Design The Environment
Alter The Experiences
Evolve The Ecosystem
Perform Effectively
Democratize Operations
Act In Uncertainty
OBLIQUE LEADERSHIP IN DETAIL
DEVELOP PEOPLE
Develop is the theme of helping people (including yourself!) grow and be successful in their environment. There are many fields to draw from for development such as sociology, communications, psychology, motivation, change, learning theory, and more.
Be Self-Aware
- Know your biases, boundaries, limitations, & strengths
- Act with informed intention, confident humility, & curiosity
- Ask for feedback and respectfully receive it; reflect often
Help Others Thrive
- Create a personal connection & attend to people’s needs
- Appreciate strengths, motivations, & past experiences
- Ensure support, growth, & find appropriate opportunities
DESIGN THE ENVIRONMENT
Design is the theme of creating and shaping something with a specific purpose or outcome in mind. The areas of design most applicable to Oblique Leadership are social systems design, organization design, and experience design. Adjacent areas are psychology of change, motivation, and goal setting and neuroscience of information processing.
Alter The Experiences
- Alter key inflection points to reshape beliefs and behaviors
- Create new narratives & norms with targeted interactions
- Connect people to purpose through identity and community
Evolve The Ecosystem
- Evaluate the organization as an interconnected system
- Use adaptive learning to evolve the org design’s fit-to-purpose
- Employ a people-centered approach to change management
PERFORM EFFECTIVELY
Perform is the domain of choosing options and making tradeoffs. Areas to go deeper on are decision theory, behavioral economics, information value, risk & uncertainty. Adjacent areas are widening ways of thinking both individual in groups as well as responsibility and accountability patterns and anti-patterns.
Democratize Operations
- Distribute power and decision-making broadly
- Create equitable, meaningful ownership opportunities
- Require accountability, advice, debate, and transparency
Act In Uncertainty
- Separate decision processes from results
- Leverage narrative as well as probabilistic thinking
- Be prepared, create options, & trade off for the long run