Neill Archer Roan posted an interesting leadership case study/exercise yesterday. What I really admired about it were the questions.
I appreciated that they didn’t specifically ask who was at fault and how could the person(s) handle the situation more constructively. The questions don’t even ask how you would address the situation with the development director or the board. I am sure any group discussion of the case would probably result in blame being assigned, but I like the fact that the questions don’t necessarily imply that removing a person is part of the solution.
Too often we imagine the solution to be simpler than it is and decide “if only X were to happen, we would be all right.” The X factor is usually just a symptom or a quick fix for a symptom and doesn’t address an underlying cause.
The entry is worth taking a look at just to think about. Some of the questions Neill poses may not have any significance to any situation you are in. You may never ponder “What behavioral or cognitive patterns are in place?” for example, unless you are really interested in organizational behavior.
Even though he places the reader in the position of Executive Director, one need not take that point of view to consider any part of the scenario. In the best situation, you will come up with some questions he hasn’t posed. Moving beyond what Neill suggests shows that your brain is really churning away and exercising your problem solving muscles.
