Dr Alisdair Smithies, FRSM, FBCS, LFEDIP

Three modes of organising for improvement: (1) Doing things well (2) Doing things better (3) Doing better things An organisational improvement strategy should focus on all three. Many organisations currently are overfocussed on (1) & (2) and under focussed on (3). This is risky because we can end up focused on improving the "wrong" or suboptimal things. The environment of change that we find ourselves in means that we have to focus increasingly on (3). It won't happen unless we build in the time & space for connection, collaboration, experimentation & learning into daily work. I adapted this table from content in "Improving quality in healthcare: questioning the work for effective change" by Murray Anderson-Wallace & Nick Downham. I really like this book, written by highly experienced practitioners: us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/imp….

How should we approach our role as leaders? By emphasising our competence, strength & experience? Or by establishing trust through warmth and understanding? The authors of this classic article say we need to do both but we should start with building trust. Multiple studies in the ten years since this article have backed up the importance of relationships and connections as the foundations for effective leadership. hbr.org/2013/07/connect-then… Graphic: @tnvora