Week 4

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one that is most adaptable to change."
- Charles Robert Darwin -

Such an apt quote to begin the lesson on Drivers of World Change.

Personally, the driver that affected me the most was environmental change. During the SARS outbreak in 2003, living near Tan Tock Seng Hospital was a period of unrest- the countless temperature checks that I had to endure; the face mask that I had to put up with just because I have a common cold or cough. On a more international level, everyone was forced to undergo regular checks. In school, everyone was required to bring a thermometer and do checks twice daily. The stop-gap measures the government implemented to survive through this ordeal is testament that we should adapt to these changing times.

There was a discussion on evolutionary and revolutionary change. Evolutionary change involves small and gradual change over an extended period of time while the latter, aka disruptive change is one that is mainly irreversible and made ground-breaking impact. E.g invention of a mouse (the gizmo, not the animal) greatly improved the efficiency of computers!

Moving on to Change Management and Change Leadership, comparisons of a leader and visionary were discussed in class. Clearly, a visionary is a subset of a leader. What struck out was the sentence: A leader does the right thing while a manger does things right.

In response to change management, what amused me was the 3 approaches:
1) Eagle approach: big picture perspective; recognize change; proactive in change
2) Ostrich approach: unreceptive to change; remain stagnant; don’t see a need to change
3) Dodo bird approach: not sure that change existed until it hits him

Clearly, one should strive to have an eagle approach but then again, it’s always easier said than done.

The presentation by Andrew, a fellow student whose slides were on Obama’s change management report card addresses this issue. He lists out the 4 main methods namely:
1) Make a case for change by explaining why the current situation cannot continue
2) Create a vision of what will be different
3) Mobilize commitment to change
4) Generate early successes that build momentum and learning

Traditional model works in the past where change was not very rapid. Therefore the conventional method of “freeze-unfreeze-refreeze” will work. However this solution will not come to pass in the world today. In fact, we should adopt the modern model: need for regular routine checks, continuously changing + upgrading in order to survive.

I would like to briefly touch on the article, Global Drivers of Change to 2060. Natural England Commissioned Report which I’ve read. It is an insightful and detailed report generated by England that discusses the possible drivers, ranging from environmental, demographic, commercial to scientific discovery and technology innovation that will shape the world of tomorrow. The report also factors in  wildcards (low probability events that could disrupt the expected mega trend) as well as potential paradigm shifts as a result of these drivers to provide a balanced view.

This week’s lesson deserves a 8/10 as the topic is relevant in an ever-changing world of today. However, an area of improvement would be more videos as it is a late class and everyone’s probably tired. The short clip of the dancing leader did the trick. We need more of this!

Quotes that are food for thought:

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

Theodore Roosevelt

As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.

Bill Gates