“Logic will get you from A to B.
Imagination will take you everywhere.”
Albert Einstein

Creativity involves deliberately using our imagination to produce new ideas and develop elegant solutions to problems. In a high pressure, volatile and uncertain world the ability to come up with innovative solutions to problems and challenges is a key success factor for many businesses. As with most skills or abilities, some people are naturally more creative than others, but it is a competency that can be developed through training and practise.

Benefits of being more creative

It is fairly self-evident that if you can devise an innovative solution to business problem you can end up a significantly more profitable organisation as you take out unnecessary costs, control risks, and/or gain more market share. It is also the case that when people are engaged in creative problem solving their morale goes up, team work improves and job satisfaction increases because people feel that their work is making a difference and their abilities are put to good use. Team based creative problem solving can be especially effective because diverse group members collectively possess knowledge and a variety of perspectives not found in just one person. Being part of that type of team can be highly motivational, as in the example of ‘Skunk Works’ Teams’ (a small, loosely structured group who are tasked with radical innovation; based on Lockheed Aircraft Corporation’s WW2 SkunkWorks Project Team )

Leadership and Creativity

Dubrin, Dalgleish and Miller (2011) identified six Leadership Actions that help to promote creativity within a business…

1. Match the employees’ expertise, and intellectual capabilities, with the problem in hand
2. Allow employees freedom to choose their own methodology and approach (set goals but don’t micro-manage people)
3. Give employees the time and money they need to get things done. Depending on the issues being addressed, funds may not necessarily be an issue, but it is important to give people the necessary resources.
4. Put together a diverse team to allow for cross-fertilisation. Homogenous teams will probably argue less but they are usually not as open-minded about possible options.
5. Create a safe environment that allows people to think freely and challenge assumptions and sacred cows. Also evaluate and act on creative ideas quickly so that it is obvious that the work really does matter and that proposals won’t be left to ‘wither on the vine.’
6. Encourage information sharing and collaboration across the whole organisation with the problem-solving team; don’t allow silos and/or office politics to stifle innovation.

Making time to think

Professor Kets de Vries’ of INSEAD has recently written an interesting article on creativity in business called, “Want More Creative Breakthroughs? Slow Down”

The main premise of the article is that both ‘big C’ creativity e.g. scientific breakthroughs, and ‘small C’ creativity (that gives rise to the insights needed to solve ‘day to day’ problems) are vital to driving business results.

He argues that it is necessary to first immerse ourselves in the problem before letting go, so that ideas can incubate in the subconscious. So, new ideas can’t be ‘forced’ into being, they have to be coaxed out through relaxation and reflection. This means giving ourselves time and space to let ideas ‘gestate’ by doing tasks that are nothing to do with the problem at hand e.g. some people like to walk in nature, while Einstein used to like to play the violin. Then the solutions will emerge as a flash of insight – often at unexpected moments – e.g. in the Bed, Bath or Bus (the 3 B’s of creativity).

You can read the article here…

Getting in the ‘Creativity Zone’

Very closely related to the concept of ‘making time to think’, is the idea of deliberately putting yourself in a creative frame of mind. This matters because it is not easy to be creative if you are feeling stressed, unhappy or depressed. The more relaxed, positive and upbeat you feel the easier it is for your thoughts to ‘flow’ and for leaps of imagination to occur. In contrast, stress or fatigue creates ‘tunnel vision’ and makes it very hard to entertain unusual approaches and ideas.

One important aspect of creativity therefore is to manage your emotional state and consciously choose to put yourself in a ‘creative mood’ or ‘creative zone’. Different people have different ways of doing this, the key is to find a way that works for you. The approaches for doing this are more or less the same as the methods for creating time and space to think and they include; listening to music, playing an instrument, going for a walk (especially in nature), meditating, doing some exercise, deep breathing, Autogenics, thinking of a time when you were highly creative, Tai chi, dancing and going down the pub!

How might we…

Another key to getting in the creative zone is to frame your problem or challenge you want to address by using the phrase…

“How might we….X?”
For example…
“How might we…improve the way we run remote meetings?”
“How might we…make a success of home working?”

The psychological reasoning behind this format is that the “How” assumes there are likely to be solutions and helps to open up a world of possibilities.

The “Might” implies that it’s OK to make suggestions freely; any given option might work and it might not work but either way it is fine just to throw
out ideas.

The “We” signals that it is not all on one person’s shoulders; the creative thinking is a ‘joint enterprise’ and we will build on one another’s ideas.

Four ‘rules’ for being more creative

More generally we can say that there are four elements to developing creativity…

• Seek out new experiences
  The raw material of inventiveness is the experiences, concepts and values that we are exposed to. By consciously seeking out new experiences, reading things we wouldn’t normally read etc. we can build up a storehouse of data that can help to spark an idea at some time in the future.
• Separate generating ideas from evaluating them
  Sometimes the silliest seeming option, or the most bizarre proposal is actually the one that holds the most promise. Thus, one of the keys to creativity is to capture every idea without passing judgement and to
  assess their viability only after a large number of possibilities have been written down.
• Inspiration comes from hard work
  A ‘eureka moment’ where a fantastic idea seems to ‘appear’ from thin air typically only happens when a problem has been worked upon for some time. So, making the effort to consciously ponder an issue and taking the time to reflect, put it to one side, and then returning to it at a later time, is a key success factor in developing creative solutions.
• Use Creativity Tools
  In trying to develop new ideas it often helps to use a specific ‘tool’, method or approach to help to first kick start, and then shape, the idea generation process. It may well be worth exploring some of the myriad of methods that are available for doing this, including… Edward de Bono’s Lateral Thinking , Reframing and Osborn’s Checklist.

So what’s next?

Reflect on how creative you are at the moment. Do you reach for the first workable solution that occurs to you? Would it be worth your while ‘slowing down’ your decision making and consciously generating 3, 4, or 5 options before making any firm choices? More generally what improvements could you make to how you (or your team) applies creative thinking to your work?

Reading

Read this article on Mind Popping as a creative thinking strategy

On-Line

Watch this (old, grainy video) of Edward de Bono talking about his lateral thinking concept of Provocation (or PO) and the Escape Process (9 minutes long.)

Courses

Consider running one of our half-day Creative Thinking Workshops

Coaching

Or maybe you’d like to think about commissioning an Executive Coaching Assignment to help people address this topic.

Though perhaps you’d prefer our Remote Coaching Programme to help you develop your creativity.

Contact

Or gives us a call on 0844 394 8877 (UK) or email us at coaching@boulden.net and we’ll be happy to discuss how we can work with you.

And to end with a quote from Dr Seuss…

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try.”
DR SEUSS

A practical guide to the psychology of self-preservation

“We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails”
Anon

A crisis situation will throw up many problems, challenges and dilemmas, but be reassured that the most effective counter measures for stressful situations are known and are (for the most part) not so difficult to apply. The place to start when faced with a crisis is with your own reaction to it. Once you feel (more or less) centred, then you are in a position to start to help others. This is just like the safety briefing on an aeroplane – where they ask you to put on your own oxygen mask before attempting to help other people!

These psychological ‘self-defence’ measures primarily consist of…

• Understanding stress reactions
• The importance of maintaining an ‘Internal Locus of Control’
• Three types of hygiene
• Energy Management Techniques
• Maintaining Relationships
• Creative Problem Solving

Let’s look briefly at each of these factors in turn…

Understanding stress reactions

As most people know, the instinctive response to a ‘threat’ is the Fight/Flight Response. The fight/flight survival mechanism comes down to us from our pre-history e.g. approached by a tiger our ancestors would not survive long if they sat down and debated what action to take, so the brain triggers an instantaneous reaction to either (a) attack the tiger or (b) run away.

This ‘fight/flight’ process involves a series of physical changes being generated to help react to the threat e.g. a heightened awareness, a reduction in sensitivity to pain, a quickening heart rate, a rise in blood pressure etc.  The precise physiology of this response is complex but involves hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenalin and cortisol being released to facilitate immediate physical action.

This response is useful where physical threats/challenges occur e.g. being alert to pick pockets on a city street, hiking along a steep mountain track or when we want to cross a busy road.

Problems can arise when the physical threat is replaced by the ‘psychological threat’ such as: worry about tight deadlines; money troubles; illness; sudden changes in work routines etc. Of course, there may be multiple threats e.g. uncertainty about employment security, changes in work pattern (such as enforced working from home), concern about how to care for elderly relatives or other family members etc. If you’re a manager, then there may also be the requirement to provide assurance and direction to employees.

If the fight/flight mechanism is triggered for these ‘psychological threats’ the adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol causes the body to go into overdrive, but the hormones are not naturally dissipated by action, so the blood pressure stays raised or the mind remains agitated.  When this happens fighting or running often translates into unhelpful actions like:

(a) shouting at others
(b) ignoring people or minimising problems
(c) poor quality decisions and,
(d) a sense of ‘panic’.

This then leads to more stress and even worse outcomes. All of this is a normal, human reaction to an awful situation but it is very unhelpful. Once this natural but ‘unhelpful’ process is understood it then becomes possible to change it to something more productive.

Locus of Control

Dr Salvatore R. Maddi of the University of Chicago (based on research he carried out at Bell Telephone during a major downsizing exercise in the 1980′s) identified three characteristics associated with thriving in a difficult environment. They are:

1. Commitment: striving to be involved in events rather than feeling isolated
2. Control: trying to control outcomes, as well as one can, rather than lapsing into passivity
3. Challenge: viewing stressful changes as opportunities for learning

In all three of these areas the idea of Locus of Control can be helpful.

Locus of Control is a theory in psychology that considers the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them.  Based on the work of Julian Rotter (social learning theory of personality 1954) it suggests that people have either an:

• External Locus of Control: life is controlled by external factors I can’t influence
• Internal Locus of Control; events are shaped, at least to some extent, by my actions

For example, if a person with an Internal Locus of Control does not perform as well as they wanted to on a test, they would blame it on lack of revision on their part. If they performed well on a test, they would attribute this to the way they studied for it.  If a person with a high External Locus of control does badly on a test, they might blame the teacher for not preparing them correctly, or that they had a cold. If they do well on a test, they might think that they were just lucky with the questions that came up.

What this tells us is that one of the most effective approaches to handing a stressful situation is to prioritise an Internal Locus of Control. This means accepting that there are things that we can’t affect e.g. government policy, the general economic environment etc. and just consciously choose to ‘let go’ of those things. Then, again as an act of conscious will, we choose to focus on what we can do and what we can affect e.g. our own underlying health, the way we control our personal finances etc., and think creatively and expansively about what our options are and then proactively take what actions we can do and what we can affect.

Three Types of Hygiene

Hygiene is defined as: Conditions or practices conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease (from the ancient Greek hugieiné – the art of health). In respect of stress management and building resilience e.g. during the COVID-19 pandemic, we can say that three types of hygiene are particularly important…

1. Personal Hygiene. The scientific advice is that frequently washing your hands helps to avoid catching many diseases.  Soap breaks many viruses (including COVID19) into small pieces which can then easily be swilled down the drain. The main issue is to make sure that all of the hands are covered with soap when you wash them – the fingers, thumbs, back of the hand etc.
2. Sleep Hygiene. Fatigue is the enemy of good decision making and creates a low mood, which makes a sense of hopelessness more likely. Be disciplined about getting 8 hours sleep a night.
3. News Hygiene. It is easy to obsess about the latest developments and become bombarded by all the ‘breaking news’, opinions and counter opinions. This takes up a lot of time, can cause confusion and generally does very little good. News Hygiene involves picking one or two trusted, high quality sources of information and sticking with them.

Energy Management Techniques

Energy Management involves making sure that a person is sensitive to what is happening to them (and their stress levels) and takes enough breaks, or slows down from time to time, in order to conserve their energy levels.

There is an analogy with athletics training, where the athlete ‘warms up’, has a vigorous ‘work out’, ‘warms down’ and then rests.

The ‘warming up’ and ‘warming down’ as well as the rest period (or what is often called “Quality Recovery Time”) are all crucial parts of the training process and key both to achieving high performance and avoiding injury.   Too many training sessions, without allowing the body to fully heal, or entering competitions too close together, simply results in a loss of form and poor results.

So, especially in times of high stress, it is important to take time to re-set the mind and body by taking regular ‘mini breaks’ such as walking the dog, meditating, just sitting quietly over a coffee and letting your mind drift, chatting to a friend, playing with your kids, etc.

A key idea here is the need to Prioritise Positivity; this simply involves organising everyday life to actively include some activities that bring pleasure. These pleasing activities will be different from person to person but could include things like; watching sport, gardening, reading a newspaper, playing the piano, going for a run etc. People who Prioritise Positivity are not just happier than those who don’t, but also have better relationships, more resilience and are more mindful. This happens because they have more frequent experiences of positive emotions, because they consistently schedule, ‘fun things’ into their routine.  (Journal of Emotion – Catalino et al, 2014.)

Maintaining Relationships

Resilient people appreciate that, ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ and understand the value of a ‘support network’ to give advice, guidance and succour in troubled times.

Human beings are ‘pack’ animals. In evolutionary terms success in an oftentimes-hostile environment came from co-operation, teamwork and being part of a family, tribe or nation.  So, there is a powerful, innate need for mutually supportive relationships.

Consequently, when faced with high pressure situations or a crisis, the advice, guidance and perspective that family and friends provide are vital to keeping a sense of perspective and ‘switching off’ the fight or flight response.  Naturally, you will also be giving support to them in return. Think about how and when to stay in touch with the people that matter most to you (maybe) develop an informal schedule for when to call people. Also, reflect on what technology you want to use given the need for remote working e.g. FaceTime, Zoom, Skype etc.

Creative Problem Solving

As the Americans say, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going!”

A key element of coping in a crisis is having the vision, the imagination, and the determination to find novel ways of doing things in the face of adversity.

One aspect of this is to choose to engage people in creative problem-solving activities. Pick a topic and think about how to address it as a team. Be careful to separate generating ideas from evaluating them.  Remember that all ideas are good ideas when you are generating options; the ‘trick’ is to come up with as many alternative solutions as possible. Sometimes the most ridiculous ideas are the ones that lead to a spark of insight that end up pointing the way to a really elegant answer to the problem. It may be worth trying out some creative thinking tools like Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats or Osborn’s Checklist, or Reframing.

What’s next?

Reflect on how well you deal personally with a crisis. Are you maintaining a calm, centred frame of mind? Are you adopting an Internal Locus of Control? What improvements could you make to how you are handling the situation?

Reading

Read my article on Creativity or this one on Reframing, Mind mapping,  Insight and Creative Flow.

Online

Watch… this clip of a simple 3-step technique from Dale Carnegie on how to stop worrying and start living.

Courses

Consider signing teams up for our remote group coaching sessions on developing resilience.

Coaching

If you’re a senior executive maybe a ‘one-to-one’ executive coaching session, or our remote coaching programme, would be a useful option for helping you improve your self-management skills?

And finally, however troublesome things seem, remember this ancient Persian adage about the temporary nature of the human condition…

“This too shall pass.”
Anon

“Of all the talents bestowed upon men, none is so precious as the gift of oratory.”
SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL

Would you like to be seen as charismatic and impressive? Most business leaders would. Especially in the context of speaking at an industry conference, investors meeting, or a ‘town hall’ session to motivate and inspire employees, or even just to their own team! If so, you are probably curious about how really powerful presenters got to be that way, and what they do to keep audiences enthralled.

Of course, there are a number of elements to being a great communicator. Not least among them are having a powerful message and using compelling body language, and there are also some key rhetorical devices used in any high-impact speech that mark the speaker out as a ‘master presenter.’ So, learning this art takes time and effort, and a commitment to practise. But, can we learn to present like one of the greats (like Barak Obama perhaps?)… Well… to borrow his slogan from the 2008 presidential campaign… Yes we can…

Content is King…

First things first. A top-quality presentation requires top-quality content. No business person is going to be impressed by fluff and waffle, no matter how ‘eloquently’ it’s put over. A great speech needs a clear goal that’s clearly stated. It needs a logical flow, with good quality data, introduced at the right points in the talk, to underline and support the arguments being put forward. It needs enough ‘killer statistics’ to catch the imagination and be convincing, but not so many as to dull the senses, or cause a feeling of being overwhelmed. It needs to be relevant to the intended audience and take their needs, wants and desires (and sometimes prejudices) into account. Also, it needs to end with a clear, concrete and compelling ‘call to action’; so that people know exactly what they should do as a result of listening to the talk.

Using Body language and Voice Energy…

A presenter who stands as still as a statue, while mumbling their way through their talk, is unlikely to capture the interest of the audience. People want and expect an appropriate level of emotion, energy and animation from their speakers. Not too much animation; that’s as distracting as too little, and not too much energy or emotion, which gives the sense of being out of control (or maybe even unhinged), but just the right amount of projection in the voice, with appropriate variation of pace and power. Most importantly, well placed pauses for dramatic effect, which conveys a sense of gravitas and purpose.

In her HBR article, “When you pitch an idea, gestures matter more than words”, Nicole Torres, discusses research that shows that using gestures to explain an idea to potential investors made more impact on them than metaphors or stories. In particular, the use of one or two, thoughtfully chosen, ‘Symbolic Gestures’ made a big impact on the audience. Symbolic Gestures being those that convey information. For example, sweeping your hands out wide to describe a growing market.

And ‘Power Gestures’ can be used to convey a sense of ‘authority’ and to empathise key points e.g. many politicians use a ‘two handed, chopping motion’ for emphasising key ideas.

Friends, Romans and Countrymen, lend me your ears…

Rhetoric – the art of persuasive speaking – that comes down to us from the ancient Greeks, highlights a number of techniques for capturing an audience’s attention. These techniques that were first described in the 4th Century BCE, give speech a ‘musical quality’ that makes it easy for people to understand and remember what’s been said. A psychological phenomenon known as ‘Processing Fluency’.

One important rhetorical technique is the art of the ‘triad‘ – saying things in groups of three. This could be three descriptive words, three examples, or three reasons for doing something. For example, the well-known phrase; “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” in the US Declaration of Independence is a triad.

Whatever the content, structuring the content in three’s, makes it more compelling. For example, President Obama in his second inauguration speech in January 2013 used seventeen obvious triads; including one in each of his first three paragraphs. Some of them are highlighted below: the triads are numbered (1), (2) & (3) so you can clearly see where they occur in the text.

…It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began.

For our journey is not complete until our (1) wives, our (2) mothers, and (3) daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.

Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote.

Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.

Our journey is not complete until all our children, from (1) the streets of Detroit to the (2) hills of Appalachia to the (3) quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are (1) cared for, and (2) cherished, and (3) always safe from harm…

I have a dream…

Another device from the classical Greek art of rhetoric is ‘anaphora‘ – the repetition of the same word (or words) at the beginning of successive clauses. This effect is used to create themes and structures, and also clump ideas into their most compelling forms.

Perhaps the most famous example of anaphora is the 1963 speech by Martin Luther King Jnr where he used anaphora when he repeated the phrase; “I have a dream…” eight times in successive sentences.

If you look at the above excerpt from Obama’s February 2013 Inaugural address again you will notice the recurring phrase, “Our journey is not complete…” and in the full text this is used five times in a row.

And it’s a device also used extensively in literature, as in the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens…

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…

Put a ring on it…

The same words repeated at the end of successive sentences or clauses is called ‘epiphora’ and here (just to show how ubiquitous these techniques are) is an example for the song Single Ladies by Beyoncé…

‘Cause if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it
if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it
Don’t be mad once you see that he want it
If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it’

Or from the world of politics here is Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, speaking about FEMA Chief Michael Brown, September 6, 2005…

“Take whatever idiot they have at the top of whatever agency and give me a better idiot. Give me a caring idiot. Give me a sensitive idiot. Just don’t give me the same idiot.”

Of course, it’s entirely possible to combine techniques, as in this example which uses both a triad and epiphora… and is attributed (probably spuriously) to the impresario PT Barnum…

“You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”

We the people…

‘Thematic Patterns‘ – key words repeated throughout the speech are another highly effective form of reinforcement that great orators use extensively.

For example, in the “I have a dream” speech, Martin Luther King Jnr repeats the theme word, ‘freedom’, twenty times.

In both his inauguration speeches President Obama sought to get across the theme that solving America’s problems would be a collective effort. In his second inauguration speech he got this across by the use of the word ‘we’ (used sixty-eight times, compared to only four uses of the word ‘I’.)

Give me liberty or give me death!

‘Antithesis’ – using two contrasting ideas placed side by side – is a very powerful attention-grabbing technique. An example of antithesis would be Patrick Henry’s famous quotation from his speech to the Virginia Convention in 1775; “Give me liberty or give me death.”

Other well-known examples of antithesis include:

“We must indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly we shall all hang separately.” – Benjamin Franklin 1776

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” – John F Kennedy, inaugural address 1961

This ancient technique’s effectiveness stems from the way the human brain evaluates things. We need a contrast to really judge whether an item, idea or company is as good as it says it is. This is why organisations put out tenders for new suppliers. They look for a number of people to reply, in order to contrast the offerings against each other to find the best, or most suitable offer. In fact, our evaluations on very basic things are based on this principle. If asked what temperature you are right now, what would you say? If you said “cold”, you would be comparing the current temperature to a time when you felt it was “warmer” and contrasting it with the temperature now.

And, as this example for the writer Jack London (quoted by his literary executor, Irving Shepard, in an introduction to a 1956 collection of London’s stories) demonstrates, it’s also possible to string a whole series of antithesis statements together to great effect…

“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”

So what’s next?

So, you now have some key techniques. Challenge yourself to develop your presenting e.g. start by including a triad or two in your talks and then start to add in some of the other techniques.

READING

The Lost Art of the Great Speech by Richard Dowis (Available on Amazon…)

Article: try reading this HBR Article highlighting the effectiveness of gestures as an influencing strategy

ON-LINE

Watch… this 18-minute talk by Simon Lancaster on how to write a great speech, using rhetorical techniques.

Then maybe take a look at Obama in action in this You Tube clip “Fired Up and Ready To Go”

COURSES

Consider sending your people on our two-day Presenting with Impact course (which looks in detail at how to design and deliver a great presentation.)

COACHING

If you’re a Senior Executive maybe a ‘one-to-one’ coaching session would be a useful option for helping you improve your ability to give a key note speech…

CONTACT

Or gives us a call on 0844 394 8877 (UK) or +44 844 394 8877 (International) or email us at coaching@boulden.net and we’ll be happy to discuss how we can work with you.

And remember… In the words of the orator Plato …

“Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.”
PLATO

How to Make a Success of it

“Matrix Management: not a structure, a frame of mind.”  SUMANTRA GHOSHAL

In a Matrix Structure people have two, or more, upward reporting lines i.e. they’ve two bosses, who each represent a different business dimension; such as product, region, customer, capability, or function.

For example, a Marketing Manager might have a boss for their geographical region (e.g. the UK) and a second boss who is responsible for the product they are promoting. An HR Manager might report to the Global Head of HR and the CEO of the business unit they are supporting. An Engineer might be assigned to work full time on a specific project, reporting to the Project Manager and also simultaneously reporting to the VP of Engineering.

Why have a matrix?

The matrix structure is usually a response to corporate silos and the communication problems they can create; the goal is to make the organisation more responsive to customers, and to use resources more efficiently.

As such, they have been used for some time. E.g. Phillips, the Dutch multinational electronics company set up a matrix structure in the 1950’s. It had national organisations (NOs) and product divisions (PDs). The network was held together by a number of coordinating committees, which resolved any conflict between the two.

The matrix system continues to be a popular organisational model. For example, in Revisiting the Matrix Organisation, by McKinsey (2016) the authors state that, in a survey of 4,000 US companies, 84% of respondents reported having matrix structures as part of their organisational design, with 17% of those organisations being classified as very highly matrixed (multiple teams and multiple managers).

What could possibly go wrong?

As noted above, matrix structures initially came about in response to an increasingly changeable, dynamic business environment, where information needed to be shared more widely and corporations needed to be closer to the customer. So, what ‘difficulties’ should senior executives be aware of if they are considering adopting this model?

It turns out that there are three big problems that need to be overcome:

1. Performing in the face of competing goals or role ambiguity
   Dual reporting lines can lead to conflict and confusion – with at least two bosses to please the question arises regarding whose priorities should take precedence? And, with two or more ‘masters’ giving instructions, how is the risk of an employee being assigned too many tasks handled? And what stops people being given contradictory tasks? Also, who specifically is responsible for managing performance and for making sure that the employee gets an appropriate level of training and development?
2. Dealing with diversity
   In a multinational organisation there is also the challenge of building relationships with bosses and peers from different cultural backgrounds who are oftentimes also in different time zones. It may well be the case that many of these relationships are ‘virtual’; taking place via email, phone calls and Skype with the bare minimum of face to face interaction.
3. Influencing without authority
   In a matrix it is common to be made accountable for goals but to not have control over the resources needed to achieve them, e.g. key staff may well report to someone else. Also, decision making can be confused and it can be hard to get approval to spend money as there are ‘turf wars’ about things like which P&L should be charged etc.

When matrix’s work

Another question Senior Executives might want to ask themselves is, “How do I get a matrix system working effectively?” Well, all the way back in 1990, Bertlett and Ghosal were arguing that an effective matrix organisation needs to be driven by (i) a clear and consistent corporate vision (ii) hiring, and/or developing people, who can cope with complexity, cultural diversity and can build strong relationships (iii) having processes to help people to develop a collaborative, global mindset – one that helps them to contribute to the corporate vision in practical ways.

Galbraith, J. R. (1939-2014), in Designing Matrix Organizations That Actually Work (2008), suggested that the key to making matrix structures effective is to create a culture that encourages collaboration, co-operation, and team working.

He argued that for a matrix to work the Leadership Team need to prioritise implementing processes for managing conflict and dealing with the ambiguity that having two bosses can so easily create. He advocated doing this using the STAR model…which identified five ‘levers’ for shaping desired behaviour – (i) Strategy (ii) Structure (iii) Process (iv) People and (v) Rewards.

While Vatrappen and Wirtz in their March 2016 HBR article, Making Matrix Organisations Actually Work, tinyurl.com/j6bfhav
have five guidelines for success:

1. Adopt when purposeful
   The matrix structure should only be used when (i) there is a major need for middle managers of different teams to coordinate on important business matters on a daily basis and, (ii) the required coordination cannot be achieved adequately through ‘soft-wiring’ e.g. things like advisory committees and task forces.
2. Keep intrinsic conflict out
   Make sure there are intrinsic reasons for the two dimensions in the matrix (e.g. region and function) to collaborate rather than to compete e.g. don’t let them fight over control of the P&L account.
3. Limit breadth and depth
   Keep things simple – stick to two organising principles (e.g. product + region or region + function).
4. Don’t pretend it is not a matrix
   Don’t make a distinction between a dotted and full reporting line, implying that the ‘dotted line’ relationship is of secondary importance. Position the two reporting lines of a matrixed manager as fully balanced (i.e. 50-50).
5. Escalate by exception only
   A common complaint about a matrix structure is that it increases upward reporting and slows decision making. It is up to the higher levels to refuse unwarranted upward escalation of trade-offs and conflicts.

Weak vs. strong matrix structures

In the context of managing projects companies often either adopt a Project Structure or a Matrix Structure. In a Project Structure, the Project Manager has a team that work full time for them and when the project is completed the team disband. In matrix structures people typically work on projects part time. Matrix Project structures are often described as weak, or strong.

In a ‘weak’ matrix structure a Project Manager acts as an administrator or co-ordinator. The role is essentially to do with the communication and reporting of results (rather than decision making). This structure is also often called a Functional Matrix, because most of the power stays with the supporting functions (e.g. engineering, IT, finance etc.)

In a ‘strong’ matrix structure the Project Manager is directly responsible for the delivery of the project and has decision making authority, including control of the budget. They will liaise with Functional Managers to get the resources they need allocated to the task they need done. Typically, the Project Manager will be allocated full time for the duration of the project.

There is (of course) a hybrid version, where the Project Manager has joint responsibility for the project outcome with the Functional Managers and that’s known as a ‘balanced’ matrix structure.

Which system is ‘best’ is a function of the type of project being undertaken. What is undeniable however, is that to make any of these matrix systems work the Project Manager has to rely not only on their technical expertise but also the ability to influence without authority. So, the political savvy associated with skills like stakeholder analysis, coalition building and negotiation techniques is a key success factor in making these structures work well.

Four key competencies for managing in a matrix

The busy manager struggling to thrive in a matrix system might like to reflect on Sumantra Ghoshal’s comment that “Matrix management is not a structure but a state of mind”, highlights the fact that the ‘soft skills’ of influencing, persuasion, negotiation, diplomacy and (most especially) networking, are at the heart of being effective in this milieu.

Ruth Malloy of Hay Group (HBR August 2012) identifies four key competencies of people who are successful at managing in a matrix…

1. Empathy: Understanding other people’s perspectives and responding accordingly e.g. what is the customers mindset?
2. Conflict Management: Resolving disputes calmly
3. Influencing Skills: Building consensus around a common purpose
4. Self-awareness: Learning to be patient in the face of complexit

They also point out that their research suggests that these qualities (though eminently trainable) are relatively rare, e.g. they find that only 9% of employees consistently demonstrate self-awareness and just 22% are strong in empathy.

Three things to avoid

In addition, Malloy offers the following ‘three tips’ for people who want to make a success of managing in a matrix…

First, don’t try and solve problems by ‘pulling rank’ – it irritates people and you may well find that given the lack of formal authority in the system it doesn’t work anyway! Opt instead for a collaborative problem-solving approach to resolving issues.

Second, don’t escalate problems to senior management. As with pulling rank it tends to cause irritation and distrust, which makes future collaborations more difficult.

Third, don’t handle sensitive issues by email. Text messages or emails are open to misinterpretation and can easily cause (unintended) offence. Better to make a phone call, Skype call, or – if possible – have a face-to-face meeting.

So what’s next?

Reflect on how you conduct yourself in your matrixed relationships. Are you demonstrating enough empathy? Do you make enough effort to build consensus? What improvements could you make?

READING

Revisiting the matrix organization by Bazigos and Hater of Mckinsey.
www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/revisiting-the-matrix-organization

ON-LINE

Watch… this six-minute clip covering the competencies that people need to be effective in a matrix.
See video clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0nD7UKY_8c

COURSES

Consider sending your managers on two-day Advanced Influencing Skills course (which looks in detail at a wide range of persuasion strategies that are idea for use in the context of a matrix structure)…

We also have a half-day workshop on Managing in a Matrix that is a great way of ensuring consistency in dealing with the inevitable disagreements that arise within a Matrix Structure.

COACHING
If you’re a senior executive maybe a ‘one-to-one’ executive coaching session would be a useful option for helping you improve your ability to lead in a Matrixed Organisation
www.boulden-executivecoaching.net/coaching-philosophy.php

Or gives us a call on 0844 394 8877 (UK) or +44 844 394 8877 (International) or email us at coaching@boulden.net and we’ll be happy to discuss how we can work with you.

And remember… in the end successful matrix management is as much about developing good relationships as devising good structures…

“If we are going to live with our deepest differences then we must learn about one another.”
DEBORAH J. LEVINE, MATRIX MODEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: GUIDE TO CROSS CULTURAL WISDOM