Most leaders would say, "Start with the end in mind". In other words, we are talking about the vision, which is every leader's key weapon in their armoury if they want to be effective in their job. The vision is the future and demands our action and response to achieve the end. But on the other hand, as leaders, we may have developed management skills to improve the production system for greater effectiveness, which is greatly needed to grow and achieve our vision. Today's world has changed much over the decades, and the change has accelerated with the global pandemic. The changes we are talking about are not ordinary changes that impact our lives to a small degree. As our human civilisation progresses from simple to complicated, it moves towards a complicated to a complex world.
We used a hoe to till our land. The hoe is an example of a simple tool. People then invented a tractor to farm the land. The tractor is complicated. There are so many parts in that machines, but if we map it out, no matter now, complicated people have and will continue to build more versatile and complicated tractors.
Now things have moved from complicated to complex. What is the difference between complicated and complex?
Complicated things have many parts to the system, and they all work for the desired outcome. Complicated things are linear and predictable. Therefore, we may have complicated situations, but we can fix the problem by understanding the various parts of the situation. The different parts of the issue have a relationship that can be predicted within that problematic situation. We can know what will happen if we change some features.
Now complex situations are unpredictable because the interaction between various parts changes fast and exponentially. I am not a chess player but found something exciting that explains the complex situations and insight to handle the complex situations. Here is what I found after some research about the game of chess.
There are around 197,000 options for the first two moves. By the third move in the game, it's 121 million, and by the 20th, the chances are that you're playing a game no one has ever played before. Why is chess so complex? When we move one piece, the relationship with all other parts changes simultaneously. The interdependence of the relationships between chess pieces is so massive. So when one move is made, that move changes all the connections with every piece on the board simultaneously. Someone wise said, "We don't win chess through control; we win through responding to what's in front of us and guiding it over time."
Who would have thought the Coronavirus ( Covid-19) could shake our world, our livelihood and even the directions of everything we do so much. The disruptions of this magnitude are so massive. Another powerful example is the war in Ukraine. We live so far away from the war zone and do not hear the bomb go off, but the impact of that war has been deeply experienced the world over. It affects the families in Sikkim and Darjeeling as some young people are studying in Ukraine, and suddenly that war so far away is now our war in a personal way. The impact will be felt on the economy, world travel, culture and most importantly, how the younger generations will react and respond and build the kind of world after this. No one can guarantee that the world will have a smooth sail again. The complex world will keep shifting, and the outcomes will have a far-reaching impact on everyone and everything. But for us as leaders, how we lead ourselves and people with us and under us will be a significant question.
Here are a few ways to lead in the complex world .
Respond not react: Many people feel that mental and emotional health was a massive challenge in pre-pandemic days, but now the majority struggles with these issues. We need intelligent people to solve problems in the complex world because leadership is problem-solving. But a leader will solve the problem well if they have the emotional bandwidth to be with the people, listen to the cries of the people, and begin to own their problems. God sent Moses to rescue Israelites from the grip of slavery. He was reasonably confident to face Pharaoh after seeing all the miracles he could perform by the power of God and hearing God calling him to this task. But the big shit comes in his leadership at the point when Pharaoh withdrew the straws from the supply chain but demanded the same quota of brick production with even brutal force employed. The Israelite's supervisors looked into Moses's eyes and said, you have made our situations even harder with your coming and trying to rescue us. Moses changed his position and became an advocate for the people started praying to God on the Israelite's behalf. Ex:522-23. Things must move from head to heart. Then only we began to respond and not react. The reaction comes from control, but the response comes from security and influence.
Lead with Jesus and not for Jesus:
Our accomplishment and productivity define our leadership culture. Sometimes we draw our identity from our achievements. In this very complex world, if you try to measure our leadership by our accomplishment, we will be very frustrated and might even feel like quitting altogether. Jesus knows what is happening to the world. We need to follow him and be with him more than ever closely. Our internal resources and strength can only come from abiding in Jesus. That way, we can be ready to end what is not working in our leadership program, and we do not allow a program to define our success. But we build lasting kingdom impact by being present among the people and situations and doing what Jesus asks us to do. Our little pieces are part of the bigger picture Jesus is building in this world through our leadership. So in the complex world, have faith in Jesus and have enough clarity of what you are doing even when you do not understand or have the clarity of what is happening in the whole world. Be present and meaningful in the world Jesus has given to you.
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