These ten myths about strategy, leadership and control are drawn from the complex responsive processes theory of Ralph Stacey and his colleagues. The myths are assumptions that are taken for granted in the predominant ways of thinking about organisations.

Drawing on complexity theory, the reality is that leaders and managers have a lot less control over what happens in their organisations than is commonly assumed in most managerial discourse. But organisational results and outcomes are not random. So do not despair. Leaders and managers do have an impact on their organisations. However, their impact is often not for the reasons they think!

Strategy

 

Myth 1

Results occur through strategic planning and execution of the plan

Reality 1

Results in organisations occur through the interplay of the numerous intentions of those in the organisation and are therefore unpredictable

Myth 2

Actions are either strategic or operational / tactical depending on whether they have a broad or contained focus

Reality 2

There will always be unintended, unpredictable consequences as a result of the interplay of local interactions therefore only hindsight can tell if an action was strategic or tactical

Leadership

 

Myth 3

A leader is a masterful individual with a vision for the organisation

Reality 3

Leadership emerges from interaction as a social process of mutual recognition

Myth 4

The organisation is a whole that can be designed and managed by a coalition of the most powerful

Reality 4

The organisation consists of many interactions amongst combinations of individuals, over time. From these myriad interactions emerge patterns of stability and novelty as propositional and narrative themes. The most powerful people (i.e. the leaders) can interact with many others, but they cannot control the responses they receive, and so they cannot design and manage the whole organisation

Myth 5

To provide good leadership, look at the big picture

Reality 5

To provide good leadership, take your experience seriously – look at the detail of what is going on and what we actually do to achieve results. No one else is! They are too busy being future oriented, thinking of solutions and what we ‘ought’ to do to notice what is really going on around us

Myth 6

Power is something an individual holds over another person

Reality 6

Power is an intrinsic part of all human relating and changes according to the relative need one individual has for the other. Power balances can shift. Power enables you to do what you would not be able to do otherwise, but you cannot just do anything if you want to maintain relationships with others. Power paradoxically enables and constrains us in our relationships with others

Myth 7

Patterns across the organisation are identified and managed by senior managers or organisational experts. Leaders set the vision and direction for the overall patterns of the organisation.

Reality 7

Patterns emerge from local interactions in the absence of any blue print or master plan – they are not managed or controlled by anyone, no matter how powerful. Leaders engage in local interaction and they cannot predict the outcomes of their actions for the organisation. If it were so, no leader would ever fail!

Myth 8

Personality is an attribute an individual has and with sufficiently sophisticated instruments, it can be measured

Reality 8

Identity and personality are formed in interaction with others. They are not intrinsic to the individual – they are not properties held inside the individual and so they cannot be measured

Control

 

Myth 9

Breaking elements of the organisation into parts, setting targets and measuring results will enable leaders to have more control of the organisation

Reality 9

Leaders are paradoxically in control (of their own actions, speeches and so on), but not in control of how people will respond. Leaders act with intention and so do employees. No one person is in control of the outcome, which is the result of the interplay of all the various intentions of those involved.

Myth 10

Increasingly stronger targets, rules, laws or procedures give increased levels of managerial control in organisations

Reality 10

The strongest controls come from the constraints we put on each other

More about complexity in organisations is available on this website or refer to:

Stacey R. 2007 Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics, fifth edition, UK: Prentice Hall

Stacey R., Griffin D., and Shaw P. 2000 Complexity and Management: Fad or Radical Challenge to Systems Thinking, UK: Routledge