1.8
RECURSIVELEADERSHIP:
THE LOGIC OF LEADERSHIP
Inspired by Douglas Hofstader, Peter Block, and Geoff Bellman.Children often delight in the game, “What’s wrong with this picture?” whereby they find
drawings of the moon and stars in the same sky as the sun. Please play along with this leader-
ship version. Spurred on by a new emphasis on organizational creativity and innovation, Kelly,
the leader of a professional group, announces at the next staff meeting: “Management says we
need to be more creative and innovative. This new direction will help us prosper. So come back
next week with your most creative ideas.” The group members are excited to hear that perco-
lating ideas will now be able to bubble up and improve their rather staid organization. At the
next meeting, the first idea is met with, “This would cost a lot”; the second with, “I wonder
whether they would go for this.” The third never even made it to the table. What’s wrong with
this leadership picture?
This tool, in a novel way, extends a mathematical and computing science term, recursion,
to explore some aspects of effective leadership. Recursion means to use a problem as part of its
own solution. Recursion is perhaps easier to define by using an example of nonrecursion, like
sending out a four-page memo on how to reduce paper communication! The meaning of recur-
sion will become clearer through the examples in this tool.
THEMOSTEFFECTIVE LEADERSHIPBEHAVIOR—RECURSION
This tool deals with just two aspects of recursive leadership:
- Model the behavioryou want from others.
As a leader, the best way to encourage exemplary behavior in others is to model the
behavior you want them to emulate. If you want openness, be open. If what you say is
different from what you do, people quickly sense this, even if they can’t put their fin-
ger on it. In his book, The Ultimate Book of Business Gurus, Stuart Crainer suggests that
reengineering efforts often failed because “ ...reengineering usually failed to impinge
on management. Not surprisingly, managers were all too willing to impose the rigors
of a process-based view of the business on others, but often unwilling to inflict it upon
themselves.” - Ensure the processis recursive, or congruent, with the content.
If leaders want more creativity and innovation, they must design innovative and cre-
ative systems to deal with the ideas, including rejection! If “People are our most valu-
able resource” is touted, all processes and changes must have the valuable input of peo-
ple built-in.
SECTION 1 FOUNDATIONALCONCEPTS 25