How to move from Theory X Blame Culture to a Theory Y Agile Culture?

Many organisations in the current climate are having to deal with significant pressures. As human systems, organisations react using the same neurological pathways and human psychology as an individual. If the individual lacks resilience, we often observe a fight, flight or freeze response. When the individual is more resilient, we observe a different set of behaviours which helps the person thrive. Within an organisation however, it is often the persons at the top who set the behavioural expectations and therefore the culture of the organisation.

As I was reading up an Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y model, I noted some significant similarities between the organisation's psychology and McGregor's model. Theory X leadership is the sign of an organisation which lacks resilience and trust, which in turn translates into increased control at the top of the organisation (and where relevant Governance Board) and results in more complexity and 'You must ...' style bureaucracy (aka command-and-control, see image). This leadership style in truth paralyses most of the workforce.

In a Theory X organisation we often find increased centralised control at times of uncertainty, which leads to poorer performance, increased risk of litigation and increased mistrust and blame. Theory X, according to McGregor, is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Theory X leaders are most definitely in the process of 'sinking the ship'. If your organisation or team is governed/managed by Theory X leadership, my question to anyone is: 'Do you care enough to do something about it? Or do you value your health more to step away?'

On the other hand, Theory Y leadership is a sign of resilience and trust as it recognises the need for the organisation to become more agile and play to the strengths of its whole workforce, not just the managers. Agility can only be achieved through devolution of control and installing shared accountability. To play on the boat metaphor above - 'a big tanker finds it much harder, if not impossible, to move safely through a field of icebergs' and there are plenty of 'icebergs' yet to be manoeuvred round in the current economy. This agility needs to permeate throughout everything the organisation does, starting with how it is governed and structured. To give but one example, instead of the strict 'You must ...' policies and procedures, the organisation has to consider and prioritise 'the chalk outline' of the field (see image). 

The devolution of control and accountability also means the devolution of risk. The earlier risks can be responded to within the governance process, the quicker the response and the smaller the impact of the risk. Shared accountability also means that people will take responsibility for working with others so that decisions are better-informed, solving the age-old dilemma of silo-working (a symptom of hierarchical organisational design).

The great thing about believing in Theory Y is that it makes leaders of us all and that culture can be grown at the grassroots. Our own personal resilience can help influence positive changes across the organisation as resilient leaders can help others, who may be less resilient, feel at ease. Please note that this does not make strategists redundant in the organisation. On the contrary, the shared accountability across teams does change their role from 'people managers' seeking compliance with centralised processes to 'systems thinkers' who coach/facilitate trust & resilience-building, develop peer-to-peer accountability and encourage collaborative working of multi-disciplinary and multi-agency teams.