“Transforming systems is ultimately about transforming relationships among people who shape those systems”
Peter Senge
We know that we face a number of complex, wicked issues in Scotland, such as poverty, an aging population and climate change, and we know that no single organisation or agency will be able to tackle these alone. We understand that we must work collaboratively to affect change, and that this work is often complex, messy, unpredictable, and can be difficult to achieve. We know that creating the time and space to work collectively can be challenging. The day to day work can override our best intentions, and we can get stuck in our traditional habits and ways of thinking and doing.
In response to this identified need, Workforce Scotland has launched a Collective Leadership offer, building on our established Pioneering Collaborative Leadership programme. Collective Leadership is offered to cross organisational groups who are grappling with a complex issue and are open to learning and doing things differently. This offer includes:
- Skilled facilitation to work with the group of leaders
- Individual and team coaching
- Opportunities to develop and share learning
We have been running a few information (taster) sessions about Collective Leadership so we can engage more widely with those interested in collectively tackling ‘wicked issues’ in public services. We’ve had lots of interest from a diverse range of colleagues: those in leadership roles grappling with very complex issues; those interested in how we can develop the facilitation capacity which is central to the Collective Leadership Offer; and those interested in our burgeoning faculty – who will help us develop a systemic model of learning and evaluation.
To get a flavour of what it’s like to be involved in this collective leadership work, we have modelled our approach through weaving in the theory with the practice. At our information and taster sessions we invite participants to:
- use the theories and concepts to critically evaluate whether they are trying to address a complex rather than complicated issue;
- try out formulating strategic questions which help us develop a sense of inquiry into their complex or ‘wicked’ issue;
- think about who is part of the collective leadership around this challenge?
Our sessions are planned for a couple of hours but we have found that the interest in the work means that we are often staying on a little bit longer, exploring opportunities and next steps.
If you are interested in finding out more about this Collective Leadership Offer, please join us at one of our upcoming taster sessions:
21 May Glasgow – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/collective-leadership-may-taster-
20 September Dundee – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/collective-leadership-september-taster-session-tickets-45193241201