Whole Systems Governance: The New Cognitive Work of Leadership

That modern societies deal with pieces better than wholes is not news. That we make many problems worse because we see, understand, and act on them in pieces is also well known. The thought that complex and swampy issues cannot be dealt with in pieces and that they must be seen, thought through, and handled systemically is now commonplace. Put simply, we must learn to see, think, and act in an integral manner.

However, as with much good advice, it is easier said than done. What to do?

Foresight Canada has developed, tested, and put to use several tools for the mind that make it easier to see, think, and act in a manner that creates systemic coherence, not fragmented chaos. This one-day workshop will introduce you to these tools and give you enough practice in their use to take them home with you as part of your own tool-kit.
We will explore the insight that many of the issues we face today cannot be deal with by more and better management; that something else seems to be required.

This reality leads to the hypothesis that the major issues of the twenty-first century demand three-level (or "whole systems") governance: Operations, Management, and Leadership.

We will note that the vast literature about leadership and most leadership programs are almost devoid of serious consideration of the cognitive work of leadership. This workshop will focus on this hole in our lives, organizations, and cultures. The tools for the mind that we offer will make it easier for you to understand that failure will follow those who continue to try to govern their organization in a two-level way and to practice three-level—whole systems—governance once you are back home.

Who should attend: Persons who carry a board of directors or senior management responsibility; foresight practitioners, persons who sense that many of today's complex and swampy problems (wicked issues) require something more than better management and strategic planning; persons who are struggling to connect futures research to direction setting, corporate strategy and policy formulation.

What you'll learn:
(1) How to distinguish the levels of generality in any system.

(2) The three levels of generality of whole systems governance—operations, management, and leadership.

(3) Why three level governance is now a requirement, not an option. Which organizations have now moved to formalize the cognitive work of leadership as a separate corporate function and how they have organized for it.

(4) The characteristics of the eyes and mind of a operator, manager, and leader.

(5) The four foresight questions that any leader in the twenty-first century must be able to ask and answer.

(6) The seven rings of Foresight Canada's Whole Governance Onion—rings that take you from the reliability of your knowing to your operational plans.

(7) How these tools have been successfully applied in a wide variety of cases.

How this new knowledge can be applied:
(1) You will be better equipped to recognize which elements of a complex problem require what responses—operational, management, or leadership.

(2) You will be more inclined to treat issues that demand the cognitive work of leadership for what they are: leadership issues. You will be less inclined to try to stuff an issue that demands the cognitive work of leadership into a management mold.

(3) You will have some tools that help you develop sound strategies for exploring, understanding and dealing with leadership issues on their own terms.

Ruben Nelson, a pioneer of serious futures thinking,and Canada’s leading practitioner and teacher of the next generation of strategic foresight; currently advising the Alberta Premier’s Council on Economic Strategy to 2040.

Brian Woodward, senior faculty member, the Banff Centre in the Leadership Development Area, and past director of the Leadership Learning Lab at the Banff Centre

David Harries, associate director, Foresight Canada, a foresight activist since 1974.

Thursday, July 7, 2011
9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
$179 members/$229 nonmembers