Human Interactions, Processes, and Contexts: Reflections on the Past and Envisioning the Future
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Complexity Leadership Theory: Shifting leadership from the industrial age to the knowledge era ☆ Mary Uhl-Bien a,⁎, Russ Marion b,1, Bill McKelvey c,2 a Department of Management, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, P.O. Box 880491, Lincoln, NE 68588-0491, USA b Educational Leadership, School of Education, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29631-0710, USA c The UCLA Anderson School of Management, 110 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481, USA Abstract Leadership models of the last century have been products of top-down, bureaucratic paradigms. These models are eminently effective for an economy premised on physical production but are not well-suited for a more knowledge-oriented economy. Complexity science suggests a different paradigm for leadership—one that frames leadership as a complex interactive dynamic from which adaptive outcomes (e.g., learning, innovation, and adaptability) emerge. This article draws from complexity science to develop an overarching framework for the study of Complexity Leadership Theory, a leadership paradigm that focuses on enabling the learning, creative, and adaptive capacity of complex adaptive systems (CAS) within a context of knowledge-producing organizations. This conceptual framework includes three entangled leadership roles (i.e., adaptive leadership, administrative leadership, and enabling leadership) that reflect a dynamic relationship between the bureaucratic, administrative functions of the organization and the emergent, informal dynamics of complex adaptive systems (CAS). © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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About the Book
This book is part of the Human and Organizational Learning ELP 25th Anniversary Celebration and explores the development of the field of Human and Organization Learning. Various scholars that have participated with ELP cohorts over the 25 years of its existence, share their unique perspectives and changes-in-views on organizational change, leadership, complexity, organizational culture, and individual and organizational learning.
About the Author
Dr. David Schwandt is Professor of Human and Organizational Learning at The George Washington University in Washington, DC. In addition, he is the former Director of the Executive Leadership Doctoral Program and the Center for the Study of Learning. His current research is focused on organizational issues that relate to collective cognition and organization development. Specific areas of inquiry include organizational learning, strategy development and implementation, collective sensemaking, and organizational change and complexity. He has also served on the faculty of The Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Behavioral Science Program and the University of Maryland’s University College Management Program. Before joining the faculty of The George Washington University, Dr. Schwandt served as the Director of Organizational Development for the United States General Accounting Office. Dr. Ellen Scully-Russ is an Assistant Professor of Human and Organizational Learning at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development. Her scholarship and practice are focused on the role of Adult Education in meeting the individual and the political-economic challenges of the emerging knowledge society. With expertise in qualitative research methods, she has studied the inter-dependencies of work organization and individual learning in traditional as well as emerging occupations. She has published in peer review journals, including Human Resource Development International, HRD Review, The Journal of Workplace Learning, and others, and has authored several book chapters. Scully-Russ was awarded a Cutting Edge Award from the Academy of Human Resource Development in 2010 and the Monica M. Lee Research Excellence Award from the Human Resource Development International in 2012. Kathleen Crowley, M.S. is Director of Organizational Effectiveness at Circle Solutions, Inc. and has extensive analytic and management experience in the applied social science research arena—specializing in program evaluation, performance assessment, research design, and analysis. She is currently a doctoral student in Human and Organizational Learning at George Washington University.