The Cassie Partnership

Cascade Symposium

The RSA 13th September 2006

Event Review & Write-up

Cascade Symposium

 

Introduction

 

The event was hosted by Neil Cassie, Founder The Cassie Partnership (tcp) and Paul Feldwick, Partner tcp.

The core proposition of the Symposium was that Cascading is an increasingly counter-productive method of aligning behaviour with a new corporate vision or strategic direction.

The purpose of the discussion was to define an alternative that will inextricably link the growth of the individual with the growth of the organisation.

Attending the event were:

Fiona Wilkinson – SVP Corporate Communications Visa Europe

Judie Lannon - Editor Market Leader

Rita Clifton – Chairman Interbrand UK

Michael Brockbank – Global Head of Brand Communications, Foods Division, Unilever

Dr. Svenja Tams – Lecturer in Organisational Studies, University of Bath

Jane Thompson – Director Hayfield Group

Gareth Jones – Head of Organisational Development, M&G Investments

 

The forum took the form of a ‘round table’ discussion with no fixed agenda.

Cascade Symposium

 

My Story of the Day: Paul Feldwick

 

Each of us would tell the story of the day differently; each of us could tell it in numberless different ways. This is just one of mine.

One theme that kept emerging for me during the day was an apparent dichotomy between control and freedom. Do you manage change in an organisation by giving everyone detailed instructions what to do? Or do you just leave people to work it out for themselves?

There is a view that without control, chaos will ensue. But this fear – and it is a powerful fear – is based on a misconception. The misconception is that the only possible role for managers or leaders is to control everything. If anything is left uncontrolled, that is a failure of management and a dereliction of duty.

But the alternative to control is not just doing nothing. The art of leadership lies in creating the space, judging when to intervene and when not, and what interventions to make.

On this model, we were not just talking about organisational process, we were embodying it. We created a space – invitations, round table, bottled water, pencils. We made some interventions and we deliberately refrained from making others (no ‘facilitator’, no flip charts, no agenda…)

Cascade Symposium

 

My Story of the Day: Paul Feldwick

 

And I don’t know if we got it right. There were parts of the day when I felt discomfort, when the conversation didn’t seem to flow freely, and I worried whether I should be more directive (as host), or whether I had done something wrong. That sense of personal responsibility for every moment mirrors, I imagine, in a tiny way, the pressures that managers feel under.

But I suspect the discomfort, the uncertainty, the stuckness, is a necessary part of any change (or any creative) process. The difficult thing is to live with this and allow it to resolve itself (as I believe it did with us), rather than rush in and take control again. Difficult to do as an individual, and even more so in an organisation. My feeling of discomfort is giving me information – it needn’t compel me to a flight or fight response.

It has been said there is no learning without confusion. There may be no change without the ability to stare down the fear of chaos.

 

Cascade Symposium

 

Key Themes Summary

 

The debate around Cascade as a methodology turned out, in fact, to be the foundation of a far broader reaching conversation around organisational behaviour.

In the early stages of the discussion, examples were given of Cascade actually performing well as a communication methodology.

However, these occasions tended to be the exception rather than the rule and relied upon genuine and sustained accountability amongst senior management for the delivery of the programme and follow-through on its consequences.

This led to a discussion on accountability, trust and interdependence.

 

The group’s focus throughout this debate moved inexorably from the organisation to the individual.

The themes of accountability, trust and interdependence were examined not as the responsibility of the organisation’s management but of the individuals who make it up.

This raised the question - can accountability any longer be defined by a set of measures imposed upon the individual?

If accountability is personal, then surely it must be defined by the individual’s measure of the degree to which their unique ‘value’ is aligned with and contributes to the ‘vision and values’ of the company?

Cascade Symposium

 

Key Themes Summary

 

Examples were given of where this apparent freedom had not led to chaos as might be predicted but rather to a far greater sense of alignment allied to significant improvements in productivity.

This suggested that Cascade was symbolic of a process driven approach, relevant in a ‘push’ environment of predictive demand.

Therefore, in the non-predictive ‘pull’ economies that prevail, was it now appropriate that people be placed at the heart of business growth?

This did not mean in the group’s view, having a professional HR function or paying lip-service to the needs of employees.

Rather, it raised the prospect of companies recasting their entire business model to inextricably link the growth of the individual with the growth of the organisation.

The group concluded that what was now required was a ‘reverse Cascade’ or ‘Cascade-upwards’ approach.

This raised a second key question - in this scenario is management’s primary role any longer to ‘manage’?

Rather, is it not to define a vision and business purpose; seek ideas that generate growth; create the environment where talent is attracted and can flourish; encourage communities to form & reform in pursuit of creating customer value and to dedicate the resources of the business to generate high & sustainable levels of productivity?

 

In other words, leadership’s primary responsibility now, it seemed to the group, is to liberate the human capital of its organisation.

Cascade Symposium

 

Key Themes Summary

 And this is where the group focussed on the need for trust and interdependence.

Drawing from their experience, the group defined this new model as requiring:- a degree of openness, dialogue, freedom of movement and decision making,flexibility, transparency, learning from failure as well as success, listening, knowledge sharing and willingness to embrace risk – none of which are qualities typical of hierarchical, siloed, ‘top-down’ businesses.

The group discussed the trap that so many businesses have fallen into of mistaking e-mails for dialogue, meetings for interdependence and open-plan for transparency.

These critical qualities are cultural, take time and energy, require discipline and have consequences if abused or ignored.

Therefore, the third key question raised was - In a modern ‘people first’ business is it now these ‘soft’ human issues that leadership must commit to in order to achieve the ‘hard’ results their institutional investors and shareholders demand?

One member of the group (drawing from an example of enforced change where two companies merged successfully) proposed a term for this form of management behaviour– ‘authentic leadership’.

This led to a conclusion that ‘authentic leadership’ cannot proclaim change, or a new vision or business purpose and then fail to follow through. Nor can it, for instance, seek employee views and then fail to act upon their recommendations.

Cascade Symposium

 

Key Themes Summary

 ‘Authentic leadership’ it follows, must be the enemy of the status quo.

‘Authentic leaders’ must know that behavioural change of this significance does not come easily. Unlike initiatives, it is not a fashion item designed to displace accountability from the top down. It is profound and once begun is a long term commitment.

They must understand that Vision, Value and Values endure, no matter who happens to be in charge at any given time.

They must have humility; they must know that they are in fact, in the service of their people and in turn their customers and the communities they serve.

They must know that if they have done their work effectively, that the Vision and Values will act as beacons for everyone’s behaviour, including their own and that of their leadership team.

And they must not be daunted by the notion of unleashing a thousand individual agendas on the business. The idea (as sometimes promoted) that “this will lead to chaos” should not cross their mind.

The most telling demonstration therefore, of authentic leadership is that it is not a descriptor of the ‘leader’ in isolation but rather behaviour vested in all who work within the organisation.

This conversation led to a critical final discussion.

Cascade Symposium

 

Key Themes Summary

In her research Dr.Svenja Tams had observed how people voluntarily come together, most often in their own time, to form communities, discuss and debate.

She had witnessed how the lack of an agenda typically led to higher quality discussion, levels of energy and outcomes. The very free form nature or spontaneity of these communities - or ‘webs of affiliation’ - is what creates a spark and allows them to endure.

It liberates people to share their passions and create results.

She concluded that this behaviour represented a fundamental human need and instinct to form groups, share stories, exchange learning and ideas and simply to talk about what is going on in the world around them.

Why then not capitalise on this natural ‘human drive’ within a commercial environment?

Rather than seeing this as counter-productive or subversive behaviour, ‘authentic leaders’ need to have the confidence to ‘unleash the human potential’ of their business.

Rather than attempt to ‘capture’ the hearts and minds of their employees at a Cascade event the group agreed with Dr. Tams that ‘authentic leaders’ must seek to understand their employees’ passions, hopes and dreams.

Cascade Symposium

 

Key Themes Summary

By then engaging in a genuine dialogue around how these align with their business’s passions, hopes and dreams, the potential to ‘vest’ the individual in the business and its future becomes far greater.

The converse – to deny the individual those freedoms and implicit trust – would cause the employee to satisfy their core needs beyond the work environment, thereby leading to higher risk of commercial failure.

The group raised a final key question – is it now time critical, in this non-predictive environment, to dismantle the now perfected and predictable ‘machine’ that runs business and seek to replace it with a primal ‘human force’?

 

Next Steps - From Human Force to Business Force

 

The group agreed that in effect, the conclusion of the discussion was the start point for another. The proposal was that the next Symposium would take the form of a workshop designed to convert the thoughts, ideas and key questions that had been raised into guidelines and action.

As a stimulus to that next discussion, the following ’10 Questions towards Authentic Leadership’ are designed not as a set of bullet points that require defined answers, but as a means of engaging in a leadership dialogue on some of the critical issues raised by the group to date.

 Cascade Symposium: Next Steps

 

 

From Human Force to Business Force –

10 Questions Towards Authentic Leadership

1. Are you convinced that the culture of the organisation is the beacon that guides the behaviour of your people and impacts positively on all your external relationships & contacts?

 

2. Is there total understanding of, belief in and alignment with the vision, core purpose and key strategies of your business?

 

3. Is the responsibility to fulfil the vision personal for everyone in your company and have you made accountability, remuneration & reward specific to each individual?

 

4. Do you spend most of your time tearing down the silos, fiefdoms and hierarchies that exist within your business and replacing them with a flexible, interdependent, innovative organism?

 

5 Have you created a free flowing, community based, market driven work environment where talent flows to where the customer need or value creation potential is greatest? 

Cascade Symposium: Next Steps

 

 

From Human Force to Business Force –

10 Questions Towards Authentic Leadership

 

6. Have you invested in a multiplicity of means to capture, develop, invest in, deploy and celebrate the ideas of your people?

 

7. Are you replacing existing control systems with ‘intuitive’ systems that supply your human capital with the tools, skills & resources it needs to deliver value with optimal efficiency and impact?

 

8. Are you evangelical about capturing the knowledge gained from every phase of customer interaction and placing equal importance on learning from failure and success?

 

9. Do you (and your leadership team) speak the language of your employee and in their medium of choice? Are you engaged in a conversation – a tacit dialogue rather than a formal broadcast?

 

10. Have you replaced experts with storytellers, answers with questions, bullet points with intelligence, e-mails with laughter, meetings with imagination and Power Point with respect & trust?

In short, have you placed inspiration at the heart & soul of your leadership?

 

The Cassie Partnership  

liberating human capital                                              October 2006