Leading with Humane Intelligence - in the dawn of Artificial Intelligence

In a time where we are still exploring the potential of AI, we should remind ourselves of our own humanity and the fundamental qualities we have because of it. For now, we still need to be conscious of some of the challenges of being human: handling change, communication, and motivation.

As January and February are months for reflection and perspectives for me, I recently had the pleasure of reading three recommendable books on these topics. Below is a short resume of what caught my mind. Happy reading!

“Modstillinger i organisations- og ledelsesteori” (Oppositions in organizational and management theory). Høpfner, Jørgensen, Andersen, Sørensen, Senderovitz.

I do enjoy observing oppositions and contrasts when being in the dynamics of organisations. In my experience, not one management theory has been able to capture the complexity of even the smaller companies I have worked with. 

This excellent book takes two approaches to this apparent dilemma: management and organizational theories as oppositions and as dualities. This gives leaders the understanding of where to make deliberate choices (either/or) and where to balance (both/and) different strategies and tactics in the organization. 

The chapter on Change Management (“Management of change processes”) struck a chord with me. I have often been in work situations where I asked myself “Am I actually doing change management now?”. In some cases, I didn’t feel the answer was a clear ‘yes’, but I also knew that change was somehow an inherent element of what I was trying to achieve. In this book, two different perspectives on change management are described: Episodic Change and Continuous Change (from Quinn & Weick, 1999). 

• Episodic change is often planned and intentional, driven by external demands (as seen by the team or organization facing the change) and initiated by the leadership in the company. 
• Continuous change is seen as incremental, organic, and ideally driven by the team itself rather than change agents. Continuous change emerges as the organization adapts to the environment. 

What I find fascinating about these two different approaches to change management is how they are in reverse of each other. Episodic change goes from a sudden disruption where the existing state is unfrozen, to establishing the new state, and finally freezing the new state into stability. Continuous change has the reverse order where stability is a starting prerequisite for the organization to organically adapt to change and to keep doing so, never settling into a state that is too solid, and thus ensuring continuous evolution. 

“God ledelse” (Good leadership) edited by Karsten Mellon and with contributions from multiple authors.

When I work with change management in an organization or with customers, I always consider the communication approach first. So much can be gained from having this in mind from the beginning of the change process. In my mind, ethical change management is about being able to convey meaning and sense to the stakeholders. 

In the chapter on communication and leadership by Finn Frandsen and Winni Johansen, various strategies and tactics in regards to communication change are explored: do you “spray and pray” that the stakeholders can consume the top down information and adapt the change themselves? Or do you involve the stakeholders and build the change from their specific perspectives? With resources and time always being in short supply, a balance must be struck.

Here is where I find the strategy of “Underscore and explore” a good fit. Key messages of the change are shared and discussed with the stakeholders. This way, the change agent gets direct feedback on the sentiment of the change as well as being able to convey the sense of the change. Even with the most radical change, involvement of the stakeholders in the process increases the likelihood of the change actually making sense. 

Another key point in any change communication approach is the need for framing. Aka “The why”. As humans we are prone to forgetting that our fellow humans cannot read our minds. And even the most obvious ‘why’ to yourself needs to be understood by your stakeholders. 

“En giftig stresscocktail: når stress skyldes mangel på mening” (A toxic stress cocktail. When stress is caused by lack of meaning). By Helle Hedegaard Hein.

Hell Hedegaard Hein has a refreshing take on stress and burnout with this book. I have sought after an alternative perspective to the one-dimensional perception of burnout = too much work. From my own personal experiences and being close to others’ burnouts, I have found that work load is not necessarily the sole reason. Helle expands the topic by talking about the importance of the task characteristic, not only the amounts of it. Do you thrive with structure or open ended objectives? Are you motivated by being in control of your tasks or do you get excited when faced with uncertainty and complexity? Does the work align with your moral compass and ethics? Understanding what fundamentally motivates you at work will help you navigate in the four types of stress that Helle describes: 

• Burnout as a lack of resources to meet demands.
• Boreout as a lack of motivating tasks or sense of connection to the workplace.
• Moral stress as a conflict between your personal moral values and the work you are tasked with.
• Existential stress as the disconnect between your inner purpose and longing for meaning, and the job.

Helle shines her light on the topic of burnout from a certain point of view, and other perspectives should be visited if you want to explore the area of workplace motivation. But anyone who has the courage to have an existential conversation about our work life has my attention.