Leadership Lab

As the world transitions on multiple fronts, the practice of adaptive leadership can be combined with different frameworks and approaches. The Leadership Lab aims to advance the tools and techniques of adaptive leadership using different units of analysis through the complex adaptive systems lens. The assumption is that many problems can be located within complex adaptive systems that deal with adaptive challenges at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels. Adaptive leadership interventions may be deployed in such spaces combined with various context-specific frameworks 

Goals:

• Advance the field of Adaptive Leadership: By deepening our understanding of its core principles and applications in different contexts and leadership arenas.

• Foster interdisciplinary collaboration: By connecting researchers and practitioners from diverse fields.

• Develop and propagate next-generation tools and techniques: By applying Adaptive Leadership to address complex challenges in various contexts.

Areas of Focus

The Leadership Lab focuses on the following key areas of research and exploration:

1. Adaptive Leadership and Systems Thinking: Examining the connections between Adaptive Leadership and systems thinking, including:

   • Complexity theory: Understanding the dynamics of complex systems and their implications for leadership.

   • Network theory: Analyzing the structure and dynamics of networks within complex systems.

   • Systems dynamics: Modeling and simulating the behavior of complex systems.

2. Adaptive Leadership and Organizational Development: Exploring the application of Adaptive Leadership principles to organizational development, including:

   • Organizational culture: Shaping organizational culture to support adaptive leadership.

   • Change management: Leading organizational change effectively.

   • Innovation: Fostering innovation and creativity within organizations.

3. Adaptive Leadership and Governance and Policy: Investigating the role of Adaptive Leadership in public policy development and implementation, including:

   • Policy analysis: Analyzing the effectiveness of public policies.

   • Policy design: Designing effective public policies to address complex challenges.

   • Policy implementation: Leading the implementation of public policies.

4. Adaptive Leadership and Social Change: Examining the application of Adaptive Leadership principles to social change initiatives, including:

   • Social movements: Supporting and leading social movements.

   • Community development: Fostering community development and empowerment.

   • Social justice: Addressing social inequalities and injustices.

5. Adaptive Leadership and Global Challenges: Exploring the application of Adaptive Leadership to global challenges, such as:

   • Climate Action: Addressing the challenges of climate change.

   • Sustainability: Advancing Sustainable Development Goals.

   • Global Action Networks: Unlocking collective action and intelligence at scale. 

Action-Research Tracks

Leadership from the Inside-Out, Leadership and Applied Linguistics, Social Labs, Leadership Pedagogies, Sectoral Leadership, Complexity Science, Government Adaptiveness, Institutional and Agent-based Leadership, Scalable Leadership, Innovation Ecosystems, Epistemic Leadership, Planetary Regeneration.

*A number of these tracks were inspired by discussions at the Adaptive Leadership Network.