Organisational Report

manufacturer preoccupied with the problem of increasing sales may become locked into relentless subtle aesthetic or feature changes, whilst neglecting the real problem of changing consumer needs that will soon make the product obsolete i.e. they get locked into a consistency spiral without embracing flexibility (see Figure 8). Many problems cannot easily be resolved through technical change processes because the problem definition and our understanding of it evolve as new possible solutions are invented and implemented. Conventional, technical change processes do not lend themselves to rule-breaking, game-changing, paradigm-shifting breakthroughs. As Ackoff (1974) states, organizations fail more often because they solve the wrong problem than because they get the wrong solution to the right problem. Heifetz (1994) also notes that “the single most common source of leadership failure they have been able to identify in politics, community life, business, or the non-profit sector... is that people, especially those in positions of authority, treat adaptive challenges like technical problems.”

“Organizations fail more often

because they solve the wrong problem than because they get the wrong solution to the right problem” Ackoff, 1974

CHECK & OVERSIGHT Measure and monitor your actual results

INSIGHT Interpret and respond to your present conditions

ACT Correct and improve your plans

CONSISTENCY

FLEXIBILITY

PLAN Defining your policy, objectives and targets

FORESIGHT Anticipate, predict and prepare for your future

HINDSIGHT Learn the right lessons from your experience

DO Implement your plans within a structured management framework

Figure 8: Blending PDCA and 4Sight for Organizational Resilience

The challenges encountered by organizations rarely occur in isolation, so leaders often deal with multiple interconnected issues and problems. Thus, in complex environments, organizations might need to improve existing processes at the same time as embrace innovation, change and transformation (Uhl-Bien, Marion and McKelvey, 2007). Therefore, PDCA and 4Sight may be better regarded as complementary rather than conflicting. These two approaches can be mutually enabling. Together, PDCA and 4Sight offer a structured framework for understanding and pursuing both continual improvement and innovation in ways that add real value to stakeholders and mitigate the impact of disruptions (See figure 8).

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Organizational Resilience | BSI and Cranfield School of Management