THE LEADER'S EDGE by Charles J Palus and David M Horth (Jossey Bass/ Wiley 2002)

It is now some 300 years since the Age of Enlightenment confirmed the primacy of rationality in European thought. Reason has been the instrument for challenging and dispelling myths and, aided by scientific method, has made possible the modern world we take for granted. Newtonian mathematics and physics have provided the "right answer" to a series of problems whose solution underpinned progress into the 20th Century. However, the accelerating pace of change and increasing complexity in the modern world, characterised by relativity and chaos, have shown rationality to be too imprecise and static as the exclusive basis of problem solving into an uncertain future. New tools are needed for a chaotic non-linear world.

Changes in the external environment, and in the challenges faced by organisations within it, have changed the requirements of leadership. The model of the "heroic leader", operating on the basis of exclusive power, clothed in rationality, died in the trenches of the Great War and in the Depression which followed. Abuse of heroic power was unmasked in the excesses of Hitler and Stalin and, on a much smaller scale, of Maxwell and Messier. Modern principles of governance call for a diffusion of power in order to involve all stakeholders of an organisation in its sustainable success. Empowerment is, however, only effective when it engages the whole person and not just the parts mentioned in his/her job description.

"The Leader's Edge" seeks to define a process of empowerment which goes beyond a corporate framework to release the full potential of those involved. Its scope and focus make it in effect, a manual of servant-leadership. It claims that it is based on seven years of research involving leaders and teams in a variety of industries and disciplines. The description of the process is supported by six case studies which demonstrate its use and impact. Most of the case studies and references in the book to organisations are unattributable which leaves some doubt about the quality of those involved. Nevertheless the book breaks new ground in organisational development, not least in opening up the right brain of those involved and giving them confidence to explore new ideas and take risks.

"The Leader's Edge" identifies and describes six competencies which it brings together into an integrated process of exploration. These competencies are:

1. paying attention

2. personalising

3. imaging

4. serious play

5. co-enquiry

6. crafting.

Out of a setting of complexity and chaos, paying attention is the first stage in a journey through the other five towards a shared understanding and sensible action. "Paying attention" requires those involved to slow down and to bring all their senses to bear on the situation they face. "Personalising" involves harnessing the deep beliefs and attributes of each individual to dig for meaning. "Imaging" helps to process the information gained so far and to seek insights which go beyond words. "Serious play" is intended to break away from any rigidity of process, to improvise and play with hypotheses and to try to find new ways of handling the situation under review. "Co-enquiry" widens the process to include anybody who may bring fresh experience or insights into the process. It also works towards a consensus for action to be defined in "crafting". Here all of the material developed so far is synthesised into a shared understanding which confirms the consensus for action and defines its objectives and terms.

The process is described in loving detail and the impact made on participants is fully recorded. The descriptions sweep forward compellingly as if following some deeper logic. The counterpoint between this logic, with the use of left brain techniques, and the right brain experimentation at every stage, stimulates interest and offers a series of new insights into the process of learning. "Complete understanding requires heart and guts" is demonstrated in the chapter on "Personalisation", which seeks to draw the whole person into the process. Having done so the book examines how to harness the room full of whole persons in a collective process - The exploration process is paradoxically and intensely personal activity pursued collectively". The deeper understanding and full deployment of self is the key to driving the whole process.

"Imaging" explores the interplay between words and images and their value as means of communication. Poetry is used to synthesise experience, and the power of image in stimulating creativity is examined in detail. All involved are recommended to keep a "visual verbal journal" to note down and work up new ideas. Reference is made to creating scenarios but curiously this is done exclusively through "collages" (which the authors mistakenly relate to "collisions"). A rigorous verbal scenario process, supported by collages to draw out images, would seem likely to produce a deeper understanding of the forces shaping the future.

"Serious play" is a stage the participants step back from the work done so far and try new and unconventional ideas. It questions conventional wisdom and operates rather like the Fool in a medieval court. Crazy ideas are tried and most ruthlessly demolished. Some of the ideas from earlier stages are also discarded - "To learn something, give up something" (Chinese proverb). Participants learn how to take risks together and build trust.

"Co-enquiry" builds on earlier collaboration and brings in other external stakeholders in the organisation and selected experts. Work may be done in subgroups - Pfizer has "families" within "tribes" as groups of shared interest. Cooperation is sought across boundaries, eg linking scientists with artists, and trust is reinforced further in order to compel action at the end of the process. The process is dangerous but shared danger builds trust - it is like Nietzsche's "rope over an abyss". Not only is trust built but also the leadership to use that trust with purpose.

"Crafting enables the materials developed so far to be synthesised into a well shaped and meaningful whole which will compel action. "Crafting" is a Gestalt, a whole integrating the totality of the other five competencies. The authors have analysed decision making situations and have found a clear pattern for successful decisions - the quick development of a hypothesis, which is tested by perception, intuition and imagination, and finally subjected to analysis. This is called the "analysis sandwich". The book also explores the concept of "scaffolds for learning". This is analogous to building where a scaffold provides the structure needed to build and can be removed on completion. The scaffold allows experimentation and absorbs mistakes, leaving an untarnished result.

The thesis of the book is that effective leadership involves the whole person and, in turn, the interaction of whole people. It moves beyond the concept of emotional and spiritual intelligence into the primeval feelings embedded in the gut. It is like a pianist playing outside the normal range of octaves within which most music is written. Building competence in this creative leadership requires considerable time and commitment. To be successful those involved must exercise the self-abnegation of a servant-leader.

An article in Harvard Business review by Teresa Amabile et al., "Creativity under the Gun" (HBR August 2002) brings clear evidence that time pressure has a deleterious effect on creativity, unless there is a culture which values employees, allows them to focus properly on their work and gives them a sense of mission. This is the "mise en scène" of the book but I wonder how many organisations can maintain the support and patience, typified by the Bell Laboratories, at a time when short term results are demanded by investors. Downsizing and increasingly mobile staff make it difficult for businesses to create the conditions for outstanding learning. Some unquoted companies like Unipart have been trying to do so. Birmingham and Midshires Building Society gave up when it lost its mutual status.

In an age where profits are increasingly driven by cost cutting, it seems difficult to justify a process of learning which is lengthy and whose economic benefits are not demonstrated in the book. Companies like Smith and Nephew and Ultra Electronics, have high rates of successful innovation; pharmaceutical companies spend heavily on research and development with uneven results. Might such companies, driven by demand-led innovation, benefit from the leadership process detailed in "The Leader's Edge"? The answer is probably yes - but more work needs to be done to devise measures which clearly demonstrate the medium term added value which such a process can bring.

In summary, "The Leader's Edge" provides the latest thinking and experience in servant-leadership. If offers an useful range of techniques for increasing the self awareness of individuals and enhancing their ability to work together for a common purpose. It releases forces which are as yet little understood and the main test of leadership may be to harness them to achieve economic as well as social goals.

Adrian Davies - 7th August 2002