Strategies for navigating complexity with Greg Evans

Episode summary/description

In this episode of the Learning While Working podcast we explore adaptive leadership with Greg Evans from the Nous Group. We will delve into the challenges organisations face in developing adaptive capabilities and how learning and development professionals can play a pivotal role in addressing these challenges. Greg shares his insights on designing effective learning experiences, fostering a culture of adaptability, and leveraging techniques like the case-in-point approach for meaningful growth.

About Greg Evans    

Greg Evans is currently a Principal at Nous Group, an international management consultancy with over 750 people operating across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and Canada. He has experience in various sectors such as defence, education, health, financial services, resources, and emergency management.

Key takeaways:

• Being adaptive requires organisations to internalise the need for change and equip themselves with the tools to identify the issues and hold a meaningful dialogue among stakeholders around change.
• The learning experience takes time and involves mobilising stakeholders who may be less powerful within the organisation. Take the teams out of the workplace, by running case-in-point approaches and workshops, to provide rich learning experiences that help provoke new ideas. Help individuals promote their own growth from the self-authoring to the self-transforming mindset.
• There is an emerging demand for developing adaptive capabilities and L&D experts can help provide early warning signs, ask powerful questions, and ultimately become the “unseen” stewards of learning within the organisation. Think about how you might build those capabilities for diagnosing and responding to adaptive challenges not just in your team, but across your organisation.

Chapters:

• (00:00:00) Introduction.
• (00:01:46) What do we mean by organisations being adaptive?
• (00:05:16) How Nous Group are designing learning experiences.
• (00:10:17) Implementing the case-in-point approach.
• (00:13:46) The importance of debriefs.
• (00:16:34) How L&D can help people become more adaptive in their cultural behaviour.
• (00:23:06) Advice to L&D teams to be more adaptive themselves.

Links from the podcast:

• Connect with Greg on LinkedIn
• Visit Nous Group
• Read the book The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World