The Practice of Adaptive Leadership book club questions

1. 1.

   Identify a challenge in your organization that everyone treats as technical but might actually be adaptive. What loss are people trying to avoid by keeping it technical?

2. 2.

   When was the last time you got off the dance floor and onto the balcony? What did you see that you couldn't see from inside the action?

3. 3.

   What are your personal hungers — the things you want badly enough that they might compromise your judgment in a leadership role?

4. 4.

   Describe a time when an organizational immune system rejected a change that was probably necessary. Who was protecting what, and what would have been required to navigate it?

5. 5.

   The book argues that resistance to change is usually a signal of progress, not failure. Does that reframe resemble any recent experience you've had?

6. 6.

   What is the appropriate level of distress to maintain in a group you're leading through change? How would you know if you had pushed too far?

7. 7.

   Think of a leader you've observed who handled adaptive pressure well. What specifically did they do that others didn't?

8. 8.

   The distinction between technical and adaptive is easy to describe and hard to apply. What makes it difficult to classify a challenge correctly in the moment?

9. 9.

   Heifetz argues that authority figures often protect people from the adaptive work they need to do. Where in your life is someone — or are you — doing this?

10. 10.

    The book describes factions in an organization as representing different value systems, not just different interests. How does that framing change how you'd approach a faction that is blocking something you're trying to do?

11. 11.

    What does it feel like to hold steady when people are pushing back hard? What makes people give in when they shouldn't?

12. 12.

    If adaptive change requires people to give up something they value, what does that imply for how leaders should communicate about change — and what does most change communication get wrong?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.