If you have come across the book Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux you would know that there are many different ways an organization can be structured. Similarly, there are many different ways how leaders act in these differently structured organizations. When there is an agile transformation happening in an organization, the status quo in the organization is challenged.
The answer often to this is to make teams adopt agile practices, methods or frameworks but the leadership, management and rest of the organization stays in its own existing structures. Such agile transformations often do not work. Reason, true agile transformation requires a fundamental mindset shift not only in how we develop the products but also how we lead and manage the organization.
With every organization taking a step closer to being an agile organization, the focus on leadership shift has become even more important. One of the principles from Manifesto for Agile Software Development states:
Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
Creating this environment and enabling motivated individuals is the job of leadership. Unless leadership makes the shift, no true agile transformation can be achieved.
For true agile transformation which extends beyond process implementation; and necessitates a fundamental shift in leadership consciousness, Ken Wilber's AQAL (All Quadrants, All Levels, All Lines, All States, All Types) model offers a transformative framework.
The AQAL Model
The AQAL (All Quadrants All Levels All Lines All States All Types) model has five different elements - the quadrants, the levels, the lines, the states and the types. Of these elements the All Quadrants is the foundational element. The four quadrants are categorized as:
- Interior-Individual (I),
- Exterior-Individual (It),
- Interior-Collective (We),
- and Exterior-Collective (Its)
Using the AQAL model provides the leaders to take an holistic approach on how to lead, manage, enable their people and support them on the transformation journey.
The Quadrants
- Interior-Individual (I): This quadrant is more about an individual's intentions, values, perceptions, biases and consciousness. Leaders have to cultivate a sense of self-awareness and emotional intelligence so that they are not only aware of their own biases but also are aware of the mental models and biases of the people they work with and lead.
- Exterior-Individual (It): The It quadrant represents the behaviours, actions, skills of individuals which can be easily observed. This quadrant focuses on practices, technical expertise, performance measurement, uncovering skill gaps, new competencies along with observable behaviours or patterns which need to be addressed in order to be successful.
- Interior-Collective (We): Interior-Collective quadrant is focused on shared values and culture within the team and the organization. This quadrant is more about how people relate to each other, how do they communicate & collaborate, how do they address their internal conflicts and so on. Leaders are expected to create an environment of psychological safety to establish better and effective communication. A leader needs to lead by example. It is important to showcase - “open door policy” through actions instead of simply putting a sticker on a closed wooden door of a glass cabin.
- Exterior-Collective (Its): The fourth quadrant Exterior-Collective represents the networks, structures and processes within an organization. These aspects may include areas such as hierarchy based management, incentivised performances, non-transparent hiring policies etc. Just like the Exterior-Individual quadrant this quadrant is also made of observable aspects.
How does AQAL helps leadership
Many times when an organization goes through an agile transformation journey leaders are mostly focused on the Visible domain of AQAL model i.e. they are focused on bringing in a set of practices, methods or processes which will provide the structure for the teams to adopt agility in their way of working. Often, that is not enough. Without understanding what motivates people, what values drive them, how the change is going to impact people and organizational culture, the agile transformation will be a mechanical approach where one process is going to replace an existing process with much of a change.
The AQAL model provides the leaders with a framework with which now they are not only focussing on the observable aspects of individuals and teams but also diving deeper into the invisible domain of values, principles and shared culture.
A few advantages of the AQAL model can be:
- Holistic Perspective: Agile Leaders can use the AQAL model to take a big picture view of what drives the people's behaviour and structures around them by looking at the intentions, perspectives and understanding their values and culture. This enables them to address challenges from multiple perspectives.
- Enhanced Awareness: By understanding the interior dimensions of individuals and the collective, leaders can cultivate greater empathy and build stronger relationships. This is essential for fostering high-performing agile teams.
- Systemic Thinking: Instead of looking at the visible domain of individual behaviours and structures around them AQAL promotes systemic thinking, enabling leaders to dive deeper into understanding what drives the behaviours of people and teams. This enables the leaders to identify and address the root causes of organizational challenges. As the leaders uncover the intentions behind the behaviours of people they can focus on changing aspects that will create right intentions leading to right behaviours. For ex: in my experience I have seen leaders setting up KPIs that result in conflict instead of collaboration. The most common KPIs I have observed is - a tester should find as many defects as possible while the coders code should always be defect free. When such KPIs are set, the wider impact on the team is often not considered. Systemic Thinking will enable leaders to focus on the impact of wrong behaviours which come along with wrong metrics.
- Increased effectiveness: By understanding all four quadrants, leaders can more effectively navigate complex situations, and make more informed decisions.
- Improved organizational culture: By focusing on the interior collective quadrant, leaders can create a more positive and productive work environment.
Conclusion:
AQAL model provides a powerful tool for agile leaders to cultivate a more integral and effective approach to leadership. By embracing a holistic perspective, leaders can create organizations that are not only agile in their practices but also in their thought process. An old adage from the agile world pretty much sums it up - we need to Be Agile instead of simply Do Agile.
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