Flip-flopper or Agile Thinker? What Top Leaders Know About Flexibility That Others Don’t
Summary: In today’s volatile and complex world, effective leaders must strike a balance between decisiveness and adaptability. While changing one’s mind is often stigmatised as a sign of weakness or inconsistency, it is, in fact, a critical leadership skill. This article explores the importance of flexibility in leadership, offering strategies for leaders to adjust their decisions without undermining their credibility. By leading with clarity, decency, and transparency, leaders can foster trust, navigate uncertainty, and position their organisations for long-term success.
“Nuclear-level U-turn” read the headline in The Spectator, as the UK’s Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, faced scrutiny for changing his stance on the country’s Trident nuclear programme.
Later the same week, the Deputy PM, Angela Rayner, insisted ‘she hadn’t changed her mind’ on nuclear weapons, despite supporting Labour’s ‘triple lock’ policy to keep and renew them.
This isn’t a blog about weapons, war, or politics; it’s a crucial look at leadership, the essential role of flexibility within it, and challenging the stigma around changing your mind.
The stigma of changing your mind in leadership
We often celebrate leaders for being confident and decisive. Yet there exists a damaging perception that changing one's mind is a sign of weakness.
“He’s a turncoat,” we often hear, describing someone who changes decisions with ease, flipping more readily than a pancake, based on the last conversation they had.
Similarly, we use “she’s a flip flop,” to portray a leader whose direction shifts so frequently and swiftly that their decisions leave an imprint as fleeting as footprints on a shoreline at low tide.
Stability vs flexibility
Such pejorative terms imply instability and inconsistency, which in turn undermines a leader’s authority.
But here’s the paradox: In our complex, ever-evolving global landscape, the ability to adapt is as crucial as the ability to maintain a steady course.
Effective leaders need the ability to listen, the flexibility to change their mind, and the agility to adapt.
“The test of first-rate intelligence
is the ability to hold two opposed ideas
in the mind at the same time,
and still retain the ability to function.”
Why leaders must embrace flexibility to be effective
In this VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world, we rarely have all the information we need at our fingertips – the complete picture is elusive. And even if it seems complete at a given moment in time - nothing stays the same indefinitely.
“We make decisions based on a set of data that is available to us and that we consider relevant; but we almost never have all the data we need,” explains Michael Nathanson, CEO The Colony Group.
“Nor do we always consider all the available data - intentionally or unintentionally. After we make our decision, more data usually become available, or, with the benefit of more time, we may see the data differently or determine that we misinterpreted what we already considered.” [Nathanson speaking to Chief Executive magazine, 20/02/23].
And yet, despite incomplete information, leaders must still make (and back) decisions.
A news headline like that seen in The Spectator is therefore rather unhelpful, because the view that changing your mind is a flaw couldn't be further from the truth. We need the flexibility to revisit our past decisions and opinions as situations change or new information comes to light. Such well-executed flexibility is not only necessary, it's a sign of mature leadership.
As George Bernard Shaw so perceptively said, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything”.
Decisiveness versus indecisiveness and the costs to your leadership
If being indecisive has its costs, so too does being decisive. There’s a shadow side to overplaying anything.
Is being decisive and then sticking steadfastly to a decision, when all around you has changed, helpful or pig-headed?
Decisiveness, just like indecisiveness, can compound harm. It can be costly not only to a leader’s reputation but, ultimately, to the success of their company.
In practice, being a capable leader isn’t about being ‘this or that’ – being ‘decisive or indecisive’. It’s about balance, pragmatism, and flexibility.
So how can we revisit and alter decisions without undermining our credibility and effectiveness?
The key lies in leading with clarity and decency.
Clarity means being transparent in our thought process and communication, ensuring that when decisions change, they are clearly explained and justified. It’s about making sure everyone understands the reasoning behind the shift.
Decency requires introspection about the reasons for the change. Are we adjusting out of convenience? Or necessity??
Being honest with ourselves and our teams about why a decision is evolving fosters trust and integrity in our leadership. [Learn more about earning and eroding trust here]
How to minimise the need to change your decisions
While it is crucial for leaders to embrace the flexibility to change their minds, it’s equally important to reduce the frequency of such changes by sharpening their decision-making skills.
That starts by fostering a growth mindset, a concept by psychologist Carol Dweck which shows the intrinsic relationship between our thoughts, actions, and outcomes. Embracing this mindset enhances our capacity to take onboard and effectively apply new information, making our initial decisions more robust. [Learn more about Growth Mindset and how to cultivate it here.]
Research by Haran, Ritov and Mellers highlights that those with a cognitively flexible style (in other words a growth mindset), are better at making accurate predictions. Their decision-making is better informed and it’s less likely they’ll need to revise those decisions later. [The role of actively open-minded thinking in information acquisition, accuracy, and calibration, Cambridge University Press 01/1/23]
A model to enhance your decision-making skills
In a complex world full of contradictions, the ability to remain open to multiple possibilities is key. It allows us to anticipate various future scenarios and better adapt as situations evolve.
Former GCHQ Director David Omand has developed a four-part model known as ‘SEES’, which is invaluable for navigating a VUCA world. This model systematically sets out the process intelligence analysts use to make judgements and determine how much confidence they should have in them.
Of course, no model can perfectly replicate reality or eliminates surprise. However, the SEES framework can help inform our thinking, decision making, and preparedness. If you find this overview useful, we highly recommend taking a more in depth look at David Omand’s book ‘How Spies Think’.
The art of balancing flexibility and firmness
The real challenge in our leadership roles, much like in political leadership, is navigating the tension between the need for flexibility and the risk of being seen as inconsistent or unreliable.
Leaders who cultivate a growth mindset and ground their approach in clarity, decency, and trust are well-positioned to lead effectively.
By embracing flexibility, we can more effectively guide our teams and organisations through uncertainty to seize opportunities for growth and success.
October 2024
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