Integrating Performance Driven Change and Design Visual Language into Adaptive Management Practice

In a recent LinkedIn post, Timothy Timur Tiryaki shared insights about balancing creative and logical thinking in problem-solving, discussing the "Divergent-Convergent" model. This approach cycles between exploratory brainstorming and focused decision-making to enable innovation while grounding solutions in practical realities.

However, David Snowden's Cynefin framework suggests that in complex domains, solutions often emerge through experimentation and adaptation rather than linear processes. Snowden argues for creating environments where novel approaches can surface organically through safe-to-fail experiments and pattern management.

Ed Morrison's Strategic Doing offers a middle ground, providing an action-oriented, adaptive structure for problem-solving. Principles like "Do the doable," "Link and leverage," and "Hold the gains and add more players" emphasize practical experimentation, collaboration, and continuous stakeholder engagement, enabling a form of structured emergence.

The effectiveness of these approaches varies based on context. Hierarchical settings may favor structured processes, while looser networks or rapidly changing environments benefit from the adaptive, emergence-focused principles of Cynefin and Strategic Doing.

Building on these ideas, an exciting development is the integration of Doug Smith's Performance Driven Change (PDC) approach and Jo'Anne Langham's Design visual language into a unified Adaptive Management Practice.

PDC provides a structured methodology for aligning change efforts with strategic performance outcomes. It defines clear objectives, identifies performance gaps, and designs targeted initiatives to close those gaps, ensuring change efforts are tied to measurable results.

Integrating PDC with adaptive principles creates a powerful framework for navigating complex challenges. PDC provides strategic direction and performance metrics, while adaptive practices ensure flexibility and responsiveness to emerging realities.

Jo'Anne Langham's Design visual language adds another valuable dimension. Visual thinking and communication tools facilitate shared understanding, creative problem-solving, and alignment in complex, multi-stakeholder settings. This common visual language helps teams effectively explore challenges, generate ideas, and converge on solutions.

The visual dimension aligns with divergent and convergent thinking, structuring both brainstorming and narrowing down to actionable outcomes. It also supports organic, emergent problem-solving by enabling richer interactions and idea sharing.

Bringing together PDC, Design visual language, and Adaptive Management Practice principles creates a comprehensive approach to creative problem-solving. It balances structured performance-driven change with adaptive responsiveness to complexity, supporting both facilitated innovation processes and organic emergence of solutions. The visual tools enable effective collaboration and alignment.

This integrated Adaptive Management Practice is well-positioned to help organizations and communities tackle complex challenges. It provides a strategic performance-driven framework, adaptive principles for navigating uncertainty, and visual tools for facilitating shared understanding and creativity.

Application will need to be tailored to each situation's unique context and needs. But by drawing on this rich synthesis of methodologies and principles, practitioners can design and facilitate effective problem-solving efforts in a wide range of settings.

The integration of Performance Driven Change, Design visual language, and Adaptive Management Practice represents an exciting frontier in creative problem-solving and organizational change. It offers a powerful toolkit for unlocking innovative solutions and achieving meaningful results in a rapidly changing world.