3 a.m., somewhere in Iraq, 2005. Two soldiers knock at Stanley McChrystal’s door, seeking permission to launch a risky attack, hundreds of miles away. The four-star commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) sits up, and gives his OK. The next day he has a sudden realization:
Being woken to make a life-or-death decision confirmed my role as a leader, and made me feel important and needed—something most managers yearn for. But… I began to question my value … I had no illusions that my judgment was superior to that of the other people with whom I worked … My inclusion in the [decision] was a rubber stamp that slowed the process, and sometimes caused us to miss fleeting opportunities.
In 2008, Jim Whitehurst, new CEO of Red Hat, had similar doubts. Some staff he had ordered to prepare a report had simply ignored him: “[It] was a bad idea. So we scrapped it.” Whitehurst recalls talking about it with some other corporate leaders:
[They all] gasped, “What do you mean they didn’t do what you asked them?” You should have fired them.” At first I felt that way too. But … my team was right to turn down the job—it either wasn’t a great idea … or I hadn’t done a good enough job selling it to them … A leader’s job is no longer measured by his or her ability to simply issue orders.
Learning A New Way, Unlearning The Old
These and other stories about “taking charge” in network style organizations are told in two terrific new books: Stan McChrystal’s Team of Teams (an educational memoir of his command in Iraq), and Whitehurst’s The Open Organization (reflections on leading Red Hat). Taken together these accounts sketch a vision for leading in the more complex, flat and interconnected operating environment of today.
Anyone can benefit from their vision. We’re all working more networked now, in structures that are flexible and cross boundary. Innovation and agility are the prizes—but at a price. For all the freedom of networks, it’s hard to deliver results without the accountability of hierarchy. How do you work free and fast with loosely linked pools of people– but also get performance? How do you lead people who don’t want to be led? Or don’t even report to you?
That’s the central dilemma that McChrystal and Whitehurst confront; and both stories demonstrate that the leadership journey to find a different way begins with unlearning the old.
McChrystal Lets Go
The general recounts lessons of transforming a traditional command of military units into an unprecedented, extended network—his ah-ha solution “to fight with fire”—against the deadly network of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Stanley McChrystal’s daring strategy was to create a “team of teams”– informally connected but mission-committed cells of Allied operatives and fighting squads, across the Middle East, linked also to intelligence agencies in the U.S. The eventual success of this networked JSOC was its ability to aggregate knowledge and take action more quickly than a traditional military organization.
McChrystal patiently developed what he called “shared consciousness,” a culture of open information, supporting initiative and cross-network collaboration rather than central planning. The hardest part, as he admits, was allowing the network to make most decisions. He struggled with “letting go,” finally accepting that empowered local action, even if sometimes wrong, would beat deliberate but slower command. As McChrystal changed his style, the network raised its game: JSOC dramatically reduced Allied losses, and eventually killed Al Qaeda’s notorious commander, al Zarqawi.
Meanwhile, More Unlearning At Red Hat
Although Jim Whitehurst did not create a multi-unit network like McChrystal, he had his own unlearning at Red Hat. He became CEO of an organization dependent on–and connected to–the networked ecosystem of open source hackers who build Linux. Red Hat, though a corporation, held many of the values and cultural assumptions of that movement—and low tolerance for command and control.
Just as McChrystal had learned the performance value of leading a network, Whitehurst realized Red Hat’s success would depend on leveraging the knowledge and relationships of the broader Linux community. He saw if he could support open source values at Red Hat, the company would be more likely to deliver leading edge solutions for Linux customers.
So, putting aside impulses “to recoil at what felt like chaos,” Whitehurst slowly and sometimes painfully embraced the network-like culture of his new company. Confessing the need for “thick skin”, Whitehurst embraced debate and dissent—including regular objections to his own ideas. He got used to acting more transparently. Abandoning many of his own decisions, he reached out for the best ideas of company members. Swallowing his pride, he honored the internal and external communities of experts who knew more about Linux engineering than he could ever pretend.
Over time he summarized his job as less about directing people and more about “igniting passion” and “acting as a catalyst” for the best ideas coming out of Red Hat and its networks. The key to the company’s good operating results in recent years has also been his steady development of a self-governing performance culture: “everyone is accountable to everyone.”
Common Lessons From General And CEO
So if you want to start your own unlearning program, what advice to draw from these leaders?
1. You Don’t Manage The Network; It Manages You. Both leaders’ transformation began when they realized the network was bigger than they were. Putting aside the perks and ego of former roles, they embraced the more important value of the network itself. Without its knowledge and relationships among the people, they had no power to wield. So accept the strategic reality—cultivate your own thick skin, and then set course to help the network win.
2. Trust, Transparency And Passion Are Not Signs Of Weakness. McChrystal and Whitehurst did lots of left-brain thinking, but weren’t afraid to call on emotions or let their guards down in front of network members. So inspire your people with purpose, open up your own ideas and feelings, and put trust in others. It’s much more motivational than old-fashioned fear.
3. Don’t Hold People Accountable; Help People Be Accountable To Each Other. Every leaders wants to deliver results, but in a network organization, you can’t micro-manage performance. Both McChrystal and Whitehurst created public forums for network members to discuss and evaluate each other’s actions; and they also showcased members as examples to encourage higher performance among others too.
4. Don’t Demand The Final Say—Except Sometimes. You undermine the collective will of a network if you signal member decisions don’t matter. McChrystal and Whitehurst both recount deliberately stepping back from decisions they would have been inclined to make themselves. So honor the judgment of the people, whenever you can.
But sometimes you do have to “make the call.” Both McChrystal and Whitehurst occasionally pulled rank—because of external constraints or significant risk of failure. But they didn’t do it often, or lightly. Before you slip into traditional leadership, just remember that “less is more.”
Originally published on Forbes.com