Understanding & Managing the New Era
The world is moving toward an irreversible process. The pandemic we experienced over four years ago not only transformed the world politically, sociologically, and economically, but with the onset of the global recession, it also brought about the rise of the digital economy, the implementation of remote/hybrid working models, and enabled companies to restructure their operations accordingly.
Today, however, everything has become more complex, perhaps even chaotic; climate crises, geopolitical risks, wars, high inflation affecting almost the entire world, and changes in monetary policy, artificial intelligence, and technological advancements now form the main theme of this new order, forcing everyone to keep up with constant change and transformation.
Crisis management, resilience, and coping with uncertainty; the ability to make quick decisions, empathy, transparency, and flexibility have become much more important for businesses and leaders. This new order emphasizes agile leadership while questioning traditional leadership concepts we once knew, urging us to understand and apply new leadership models. This new type of leadership, which some call "fluid" leadership and others call "agile" leadership, fundamentally involves quickly adapting to changing conditions; making fast decisions, emphasizing creative problem-solving skills, fostering innovative thinking, and finding creative solutions to problems.
But is it as easy to apply as it is to say?
There is a significant motivational difference between wanting change and implementing it. Change is generally harder to adapt to unless an external force pressures it, especially for leaders who are firmly attached to old methods. For example, let’s discuss the shift to remote and hybrid working during the pandemic. Back then, leaders who reluctantly adopted remote and later hybrid work to keep the business running were appreciative of employees’ dedication, despite the fear they faced in the environment, and even though they transformed their personal spaces into offices. Today, these same employees’ reluctance to come into the office is seen as the main cause of inefficiency.
Remote working certainly has both advantages and disadvantages, and it may have caused inefficiencies in certain organizations; however, the aim here is not to delve into this issue, but rather to examine this as resistance to change or nostalgia for the old ways. Instead of looking at this new working model as an opportunity and figuring out how we can turn it into an advantage, or how we can blend this system we’ve been learning for about four years with organizational culture to turn it into a competitive advantage, we might interpret it as a longing for the old system and perhaps a desire to avoid adapting to change.
As many of you will notice, my comment here is a provocative view that approaches the topic from a single angle, without incorporating different perspectives. In fact, what I aim to share in this article is to explore some thinking evaluation methods that allow us to analyze and address any problem, thought, or idea from all sides and to discuss several methods that can be applied using these simple-to-use methods to improve collaboration with the team and provide agile and creative solutions to problems.
Agile leadership is not just a concept limited to project management.
Leaders generally agree that being agile is a beneficial trait, but they hesitate due to the challenges in practice, especially the fear of making wrong decisions while moving quickly. They may also struggle to manage different thought processes and working styles and may view agility as a limited concept applied only by their teams during project management. However, agility encompasses flexibility, adaptability, and creative problem-solving at all levels of an organization. Therefore, just as employees must reflect on themselves, leaders too must introspect and question their competencies, evaluate whether they have exaggerated certain traits, and always act to develop themselves and their teams whenever they feel the need for growth.
In a world where employees have reluctantly adapted to remote working, leaders need to ask themselves how well they have adjusted to leading remotely. Are they still clinging to the old, perhaps "ancient," information they know, or are they able to embrace new trends and the innovations that life itself brings? Do they communicate openly and transparently with their teams and promote collaboration? They need to pay attention to whether they have enough fluidity to shift from a conservative mindset, which I find dangerous, to a growth-oriented mindset and can apply existing techniques to find creative solutions to problems.
Six Thinking Hats
There are several methods we can use to evaluate ideas from different perspectives and analyze the potential of an idea by predicting possible failures (Six Hats, Premortem to assess an idea/problem; SCAMPER, Role Switching, and Morphological Analysis to generate new ideas).
Here, I will discuss Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats method, which you can apply to any problem individually or with your teams, to identify solutions related to the problem and eliminate those you want to discard. This technique:
Helps us avoid biases and blind spots by evaluating ideas from multiple perspectives.
Promotes a comprehensive and balanced decision-making process.
Supports structured thinking by separating emotions, logic, creativity, and criticism.
Encourages open dialogue in groups by separating thoughts from personal context.
For more detailed information, you can follow this link: Six Thinking Hats
To summarize, here are the Six Hats and their perspectives:
White Hat: Represents neutrality and focuses on facts rather than interpretations. The goal when using the white hat is to summarize all relevant known and unknown facts. Only facts are considered, with no interpretations. It is also helpful to distinguish between known facts and beliefs based on unreliable sources.
Red Hat: Represents passion and expresses our emotional perspectives. Red hat thinking allows us to express emotions that do not require supporting evidence, and such information is not requested. Everyone has feelings or intuitions about ideas or actions, and the red hat allows us to express them without judgment.
Black Hat: Black symbolizes negativity, and those wearing the black hat play the role of the devil’s advocate. Black hat thinking involves pointing out the flaws and drawbacks of ideas from a critical perspective.
Yellow Hat: Symbolizes the sun and represents the positive and constructive aspects of ideas. When we deliberately evaluate all the positive sides of an idea, we often realize that the idea holds more value than we initially thought. Yellow hat thinking also involves making suggestions to advance and develop an idea.
Green Hat: Symbolizes growth and is associated with creativity and developing new courses of action.
Blue Hat: Symbolizes the sky and is related to the overview or meta-thinking. Blue hat thinking involves setting the agenda or determining the sequence of other hats at the beginning of a meeting. At the end of the meeting, it is used to summarize the meeting and highlight decisions.
The Six Thinking Hats method allows ideas to be expressed without personalizing them.
Whether individually or within a group, each participant can take the Six Hats in turn. One of the benefits of using hats and allocating specific time for each is that it separates thoughts from the thinker. Sometimes, in emotional or negative situations, team members may not feel comfortable, and constantly opposing or focusing on the negative side of an issue may create a false impression of disharmony within the team. However, with this method, we can allow everyone, including emotions, to express their views from all angles without personalizing them. Additionally, using the hats in a specific order encourages parallel thinking. For instance, when all participants focus on being positive, positive ideas can emerge without being interrupted by negative thoughts.
Let’s now apply this technique to the remote working problem discussed above:
Problem: The General Manager (I will refer to them as the "boss" for this example) thinks that employees working remotely or in a hybrid model is causing inefficiency at the workplace and weakening the company culture. They want to end these practices and switch to full-time office work. Employees, on the other hand, think that returning to the office will negatively affect their motivation and productivity.
Let’s address the boss’s concerns and how we can preserve employee motivation using the Six Thinking Hats method:
1. White Hat (Neutral Information and Data)
Current Information:
The employer believes that working in the office is more productive, as remote work makes it difficult to monitor everyone.
Employees indicate that the return to the office will negatively affect their motivation and support remote work.
Global research suggests that remote work can increase productivity, but this can vary depending on each company’s culture and management style.
Missing Information:
What are the effects of remote work on productivity within the company? Are there concrete performance data available?
How serious is the impact of the mandatory return to the office on employee motivation?
What concrete reasons support the employer's decision?
2. Red Hat (Feelings and Intuition)
Employer’s Feelings:
Fear of losing control.
Concerns that company culture and team bonds will weaken.
Belief that the office environment is essential for "work discipline."
Employee’s Feelings:
Frustration and loss of motivation due to the mandatory return to the office.
Increased stress due to time wasted in traffic and the disruption of daily routines.
Discomfort from losing the flexibility provided by remote work.
Feelings of insecurity created by the employer’s mindset.
3. Black Hat (Risks and Dangers)
Risks of Mandatory Office Return:
Employee Loss: Job satisfaction could decrease, leading to employees leaving for other companies.
Relocation and Increased Costs: Reducing office space due to remote work may lead to a shortage, resulting in relocation costs for employers.
Lack of Motivation: Forced office attendance could decrease employee commitment to their work.
Decrease in Productivity: Time spent in traffic and mandatory office environments could negatively affect productivity.
Loss of Competitiveness: It may become harder to compete with companies that adopt flexible work models.
Company Image: Generations Y and Z seek flexibility and work-life balance. A mandatory office policy might reduce the company’s appeal, leading to the departure of talented employees.
4. Yellow Hat (Positive Aspects and Opportunities)
Advantages of Office Work:
Strengthening Team Bonds: Face-to-face communication can enhance team bonds.
Instant Communication: Being in the office can provide advantages for fast information sharing and problem-solving.
Preserving Company Culture: Working in a common environment can help maintain company culture.
Opportunities:
To make office days more attractive for employees, innovations could be introduced (e.g., social events, rewards, flexible hours).
5. Green Hat (Creativity and Solutions)
Solution Suggestions:
Make the Office More Attractive for Employees:
Enhance office days with events that strengthen social bonds, workshops for discussing strategic issues, and activities that give meaning to being physically present in the office.
Offer flexible working hours to reduce the obligation of working during peak traffic hours.
Provide employees with free meals, snacks, or transportation support (e.g., a foreign IT tech company in Turkey pays extra to cover transportation and meal costs for those coming to the office).
Present the Advantages of a Hybrid Model Instead of Remote Work:
Propose the hybrid model as a “compromise” to alleviate the employer’s concerns. For example, create a schedule where employees work in the office three days a week and remotely for two days. This provides flexibility for employees while giving the employer the chance to maintain the office culture.
Apply a Performance-Oriented Approach:
Focus on measuring job outcomes rather than the physical presence of employees.
Explore and implement digital tools that manage work processes transparently for employees.
Conduct a Pilot Program:
Before making office work mandatory, apply a pilot hybrid model for a certain period and measure its impact on performance and motivation.
6. Blue Hat (Process Management and General View)
Discuss the Issue:
Hold a meeting with both the employer and employees to assess the pros and cons of remote work and office work in a neutral manner.
Collect Data:
Analyze employee feedback and performance data to determine the actual impact of remote vs. office work.
Propose a Pilot Model:
Suggest a pilot implementation of a hybrid model instead of mandatory office work and gather measurement data.
Make a Decision:
Based on the results of the pilot, decide whether fully office work, hybrid work, or another arrangement is more appropriate.
Conclusion:
The results from the pilot program and measurements could clarify whether office work is genuinely more efficient, addressing the employer's concerns about control and culture.
Solutions such as hybrid models or flexible hours can help maintain employee motivation and reduce traffic stress (a key issue for those living in Istanbul).
By using this method, you can present the benefits of remote work without breaking the employer's persistence and develop a solution that is acceptable to both parties. As a bonus, if, despite this analysis, the proposed solutions are only in favor of the employer, you can activate the "exit button" and decide to change the environment you’ve chosen by making a new selection :)
In conclusion, this new and chaotic order has become too sophisticated to be addressed and solved with traditional methods, given the constantly changing world of work, people, environment, and emotions. In this context, by developing agile or fluid leadership qualities, we can respond meaningfully to spontaneously evolving situations, making processes more efficient and successful with flexibility, empathy, and creative thinking techniques. By practicing a growth-oriented mindset, shifting from "yes-but" to "yes-and" in our language, allowing different ideas to evolve, and using decision-making techniques such as Six Thinking Hats, we can adapt to change while making quick and correct decisions.