Adaptive thinking for complex policy development

Frameworks and processes to understand and enable adaptive change in complex and uncertain policy environments.

How to lead and manage in a complex and uncertain business landscape.

A range of global and national forces inter-relate with each other and surge and decline at different times and at different scales to create the complexity and uncertainty that we experience on a day-to-day basis. Much of what we witness is self-organising and emergent which means that it is unpredictable. The increased level of uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity creates a highly challenging environment for policy and strategy developers.

To be able to lead and manage effectively in such a dynamic world, decision-makers in government and business need new frameworks and processes to better understand complexity and uncertainty. These frameworks and processes will enable them to perceive this emerging landscape in new ways that enable them to be adaptive and responsive to a volatile social, business and policy landscape.

This course enables participants to build their current and future capability and expertise to better understand complexity and uncertainty and develop programs and processes that will support adaptation within the organisation and the society that they serve. The principles and practices of complex adaptive systems will be presented. Participants will use these principles to explore contemporary and emerging issues to develop adaptive responses.

See related:
Emergent leadership series

Foresighting skills to design and implement adaptive practices
Strategic thinking and planning in a complex and uncertain world
This course will run as an online and distance program in 2023. It is scheduled to run for five weeks, 14 July - 18 August 2022 with a course orientation / meet and greet on 14 July. Specific dates and times (AEST, Canberra time) to note in your diary are as follows:

Note: Dates and times are in Canberra time (AEST/GMT+10). The calendar invite for each session should automatically adjust to your timezone when you add it to your calendar. You can check at a site like this to be sure.

Topics include:

• An overview of the concepts and principles of complex adaptive systems;
• Application through group-work of those principles to contemporary issues identified by participants to better understand complexity and how to respond to it;
• An overview of how we can use the concepts of complex adaptive systems (CAS) to better understand human behaviour relating to decision-making, strategy and policy development and the implications for leading and managing as adaptive organisation and projects; and

Workshop structure:

• Examples and case studies are presented prior to presentation of theory to provide the participant with experiences that they can relate to
• Tools, theory and frameworks are presented to assist the participant to make sense of their experience
• Exercises, group discussions and stories presented by the participant as a means to make sense of the theory are encouraged and supported.
• Participants will also work in small groups to complete various tasks and exercises to deepen their understanding of the principles and concepts.

Learning outcomes:

• Understand how to lead and manage in a complex and volatile environment
• Understand how to lead and support cultural change
• Apply skills and techniques that will assist adaptive policy and strategy development
• Apply the principles of complex adaptive systems to better understand complex environments
• Understand how people work together using the frameworks and principles of complex adaptive systems
• Understand the worldview of complex adaptive systems

Anticipated behavioural and business impacts include:

• Participants will be able to frame the issues/external operating landscape from a complex adaptive systems perspective. Such a perspective will provide deeper understanding why and how issues are arising and propose appropriate pathways to managing these issues. This process strongly supports new kinds of conversations within the business that lead to new insights
• Based on the material presented in this course, participants will have frameworks to support them to lead in a volatile and uncertain business landscape. They would be able to identify key driving forces shaping the system and consider the complexity around those driving forces.
• Participants will have frameworks that support them to conduct conversations based on the principles of CAS and to develop contextually relevant strategy and policy responses that are aligned with the principles of CAS in response to the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of the operating landscape.

Who should attend?

• Managers who are required to develop strategy and policy in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous operating environment.
• Project leaders who are responding to complex problems, yet do not believe nor feel that they are gaining a sense of satisfaction through their efforts.
• This course is suitable for APS6 - SES, or equivalent level.

Testimonials

"I did your course in Adaptive Thinking for Complex Policy Development when I was on a secondment at the Department of Communications and the Arts... I just wanted to say how wonderfully useful this training and the notes I kept from it have been in the strange times we are now in. I have been using this learning almost daily... So - thank you!"

"Interesting and intriguing subject matter. Felt glad to have Gary's experience driving it."

"I would strongly recommend this course to leaders in the policy space to gain a new perspective in your work and how you deal with people."

This is a real-time, date-specific course, in which you will join live classes, engage and connect with experts, other course participants and the Executive Education team. Here's how it works:

• Pre-course live session. This is an opportunity for you to grab a cuppa and join our meet and greet before the course commences.
• Practice + Study. Set aside up to 2 hours per day - this time commitment will vary depending on how deeply you choose to engage with the material. It is up to you.
• Course pack. Each participant will receive a carefully curated workbook, which includes everything you need to guide you through the course.
• Live sessions with presenter. This is a specified date and time for you to come together with the presenter and other participants to consolidate your learning.
• Post-course. On completion of the course, you will receive your post-course resources for your reference and further learning.
  

• No time off work - study and practice when you can.
• Busy schedule? No problem, you can go at your own pace, join just the live classes, and do the course work whenever suits you best. We know that work and family obligations can be overwhelming. Mix and match the schedule to fit your life.
• No travel. This is a course right at your fingertips. With no travel expenses, this is a very affordable option for high-level training with world-leading experts.
• Live interaction with world-leading experts. You'll have direct access to all the best resources and trainers.
• Working remotely? With the online and distance format, we welcome participants from around the world to join us.

What if I can't make a live session? No problem, we understand you are busy. Live sessions are recorded and transcribed for you to catch up in your own time.

What if I'm in a different time zone? All advertised course times from 2nd October 2022 to 1st April 2023 are scheduled in Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) otherwise known as GMT+11. From 2nd April 2023 scheduled times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) or GMT+10. Convert for your time zone here.

What if I am not tech savvy? As long as you have access to a phone or computer, you'll have no problems. This is a low-tech course designed for everyone. If needed our team is here to help - contact us at csee@anu.edu.au.

What if I have questions? We would love to hear from you. Contact our team at csee@anu.edu.au.