In the dynamic firefighting service leaders often times find their department in need of adaptive change. This change could be driven by a change in the economics, municipal policies, inter-department policies or perhaps a new leader with a new vision. None the less, change is needed in order to meet the new needs of the department. Often times, this change is an adaptive change that no simple answer by following standard operating procedures or hiring a consultant. Solutions to adaptive change will occur through experiments and discoveries at the expense of many adjustments and effort from everyone within the department. These changes will not have a script or be calculated but rather become apparent during the process of adaptive change.
…show more content…
The first is to raise the heat by asking the tough questions that will challenge organizational culture and uncover internal hidden conflicts. There is a natural human reaction to fight or flight when faced with confrontations. However, without some heat, people will not take the change serious nor have any incentives to deal with the challenges in front of them. The second is to lower the temperature when necessary to reduce a counterproductive level of tension (Heifetz & Linsky, 2002, p. 108). There is only so much pressure people will tolerate before mayhem ensues. Leaders need to find the balance between creating heat by pressing the issues and lower the temperature to avoid disengagement from the …show more content…
However, it can be an arduous journey but the travel can be made more pleasant by a leader that understands the delicate balance between the people and the journey. Controlling the climate of the journey will moderate the heat or dealing with tough issues and the cooling off or disengagement of the people resulting in minimal change occurring. Leaders need to remember to orchestrate the conflict and gently push people to do the work while remaining poised and calm as conflicts arise. Adaptive change does not have a simple or know solution so leaders must be ready to improvise, adapt and overcome issues as they occur or potentially suffer failure along the
The first is to raise the heat by asking the tough questions that will challenge organizational culture and uncover internal hidden conflicts. There is a natural human reaction to fight or flight when faced with confrontations. However, without some heat, people will not take the change serious nor have any incentives to deal with the challenges in front of them. The second is to lower the temperature when necessary to reduce a counterproductive level of tension (Heifetz & Linsky, 2002, p. 108). There is only so much pressure people will tolerate before mayhem ensues. Leaders need to find the balance between creating heat by pressing the issues and lower the temperature to avoid disengagement from the …show more content…
However, it can be an arduous journey but the travel can be made more pleasant by a leader that understands the delicate balance between the people and the journey. Controlling the climate of the journey will moderate the heat or dealing with tough issues and the cooling off or disengagement of the people resulting in minimal change occurring. Leaders need to remember to orchestrate the conflict and gently push people to do the work while remaining poised and calm as conflicts arise. Adaptive change does not have a simple or know solution so leaders must be ready to improvise, adapt and overcome issues as they occur or potentially suffer failure along the