Thread by @swardley

Leadership is not about benefit to yourself but duty to others. Those who forget this are not leaders, they are parasites. Sometimes the organism can get rid of the parasite, in other cases it can be fatal.

X : Thoughts on peactime vs wartime CEO?
Me : For over a decade I've talked about the peace, war and wonder cycle. All require a different attitude (hence pioneers, settlers, town planners) but any organisation will have functions at different stages at the same time ...

... so whilst there might be an "average" i.e. more to peace or more to war, you'll need all three attitudes to effectively lead. This is almost impossible without a high level of situational awareness (i.e. understanding the context, knowing what is where) ...

... the saving grace is that we're in competition with others. So, it's ok to be hopeless at this as long as every else is (and the good news is that most are). However, these are refined subjects compared to the utter basics of leadership i.e. duty to others etc.

X : Does duty really matter?
Me : Yes. You have to be the owner, to inspire others, to be humble and willing to listen, to provide autonomy, mastery and purpose, There are many things the duty requies.
X : Do you have a list?
Me : Yes, so do you. It's in the doctrine table.

It's why I find it so amusing when people want to talk leadership or strategy and when I go look at their doctrine I discover they're not even managing the existing environment i.e. most of the phase I principles are poor. It's a farce. However, we're getting away from the point.

X : Is doctrine just an organisational thing?
Me : No, it seems to apply to the success of any collective i.e. team, family, church, football club, organisation, nation state i.e. from the culture map.

X: You can map culture?
Me : Long story. Outside the scope of this thread.
X : Not sure I like your new graphical style.
Me : Broken laptop. Making the most of what I have.

X : How does this apply to brexit?
Me : Wow, loaded. Look at the doctrine table. Do you think we understand our landscape, the value chains involved? We've been barely managing, let alone leading. Leadership is not having a slogan or vision. You have to manage before you lead.

X : Do you think Cummings will fix this?
Me : Ok, we're way off topic now. Cummings is no Deng Xiaoping. Sorry. I see little or no evidence of understanding context, all I see is manipulation (a gameplay) and the inevitable erosion of trust as values are undermined.

X : Are there no good people in brexit?
Me : Wow, loaded again. There are lots of great people out there. There are natural leaders who not only understand context and values but have put the effort into doing so. People like @jacquitaylorfb who is one of my favourite.

X : Can your maps help with strategy?
Me : Yes. But that's quite advanced. Lots of pitfalls.
X : Such as?
Me : Maps won't give you an answer, you have to apply thought ...

... maps are just an imperfect representation of a landscape, it will change as you and your competitors act etc. You can learn lessons from maps but the most important one is ... intent.
X : Intent?

Me : You use maps to convey intent i.e. cross the river. You operate through principles hence "cross the river" by "take small steps"+ "test the landscape" + "secure your footing" in other words "Crossing the river by feeling the stones".
X : What about a roadmap?
Me : Hmmm.

X : ???
Me : Most corporate roadmaps aren't maps. They're mostly beliefs and desires about the future, not usually based upon much and with inflexibility built in. I prefer maps, principles and intent.

X : I could convert your map into a roadmap.
Me : Well, you could do this. What you're actually doing is taking an impefect representation plus your intent to make a change and then baking into a somewhat permanent view of what the future is like. I'm not a fan of that.

X : But I need to give direction.
Me : You can give direction and intent (i.e. cross the river) without having to explain every single stone along the way. Roadmaps and such plans are a very .... linear way of thinking. That can be very dangerous in a dynamic space.

X : But if I just give people a map and a direction then that's not enough.
Me : It's far more than most ever get.
X : But what if they do the wrong thing?
Me : You're just as likely to be wrong. The map give you a two way mechanism of communication, challenge and learning.

X : What structure should I use?
Me : How do you mean?
X : PST? Spotify?
Me : Oh no. I'd suggest you work through the principles, apply them to your landscape ... and let the structure, culture and operating model you need emerge from this. Sculpt it like a gardener.