" It’s all in the interactions"
I’m currently reading Complexity and Organisational Reality by Ralph D Stacey. For those unfamiliar, it’s a book, published in 2010, that challenges the idea that we can manage organisations through clear plans and control. Instead, it suggests that management is something that happens in the moment, through our interactions. This line stood out for me: “The effective leader is a skilled participant in the ongoing ordinary politics of daily life.” Not the hero with a plan. Not the architect of perfect org charts. Just someone fully in it—present, reflective, shaping the conversation as it unfolds. It made me think about all the times I’ve tried to lead by stepping back, by writing strategy documents, reorganising teams, mapping out future states. All important, but none of it mattered if I wasn’t paying attention to how I was showing up in the small, ordinary interactions. Was I really listening? Was I widening the conversation, or narrowing it? We often treat management like a chess game: observe, plan, move. But Stacey flips it. He says: you’re already on the board. You don’t manage from above. You manage from within. And the only move that matters is the next thing you say, in the middle of a messy conversation. Management lives in your participation, not your plan. Where might presence matter more than prediction this week? Until next time, ✉️ Enjoying The Messy Middle? If someone sent this email your way and you’d like to get it direct, you can sign up here. |