Thinking the Unthinkable: A new imperative for leadership in the digital age

by Chris Langdon

Executive leadership faces new vulnerabilities. Many leaders privately concede them, but few are willing to talk publicly about them. 'Unthinkable' events since 2014 have revealed a new leadership fragility at the highest levels. And the pace of change in 2018 shows that the uncertainties are greater than ever. Is this the 'new normal?' Thinking The Unthinkable is an investigation into why leaders have appeared more unable or unwilling than ever to anticipate the biggest issues of our time.In an era of 'wicked problems' why are current leadership behaviours and culture apparently not fit for purpose? What are the causes of so many failures in policy and strategic forecasting? Are they human frailties? Or are they systemic failures to embrace smartly new realities? Through hundreds of interviews and conversations, Nik Gowing and Chris Langdon have analysed the deep new challenges to the human capacity of leaders at the highest keels to accept, understand, embrace then handle the extraordinary processes of change and disruption. This essential book draws on the candid responses. The findings will be disconcerting to leaders at all levels.

342 pages, Paperback

Published June 8, 2018

Reviews

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deep dive on why leaders are failing and what can be done about it. The authors have done years of research including hundreds of interviews and conversations with some of the world's top business and political leaders, followed up with extensive data analysis. The picture that emerges is that the pace of change has outstripped leaders' abilities to cope, while leadership models and approaches have lagged behind. The very process by which current leaders have found their way to the top (generally by conforming to increasingly crumbling orthodoxies) has left them ill-equipped to manage. But it's not all doom and gloom. Having established the state of the crisis and shared the patterns and similarities of today’s leadership challenges, the authors reveal the potential for organisations to change by modifying culture, mind set, and behaviour. The process they advocate helps leaders to understand how to deal with unpredictable change, define and address their challenge, and develop a continuing ability to tackle new and complex challenges. Lots of good take-aways that I will be using.