We are living a real live lesson in adaptive leadership and circumstances. The government puts out a draft document for discussion. It gets submissions. It has discussions. It releases an updated set of regulations.
Then it realises there are unintended consequences and things they didn’t think about. So they change their mind and issue an updated policy document.
This is GOOD leadership when faced with adaptive challenges. All of you who have implemented Agile and Lean at your workplaces know about feedback loops and daily scrums to make adjustments. All of you who have phones that download apps love the updates as they come through. Constant updates are part of a fast moving world. Even more so when we live in adaptive circumstances without certainty and clarity.
So stop complaining when our government updates itself regularly. I repeat: this is what GOOD leadership looks like. If you don’t like something they’ve decided, please do three things:
1. Step back and try and see the regulation through the eyes of some of your fellow citizens and see if they make sense to someone who lives somewhere other than where you live. Maybe the regulation is not for you, it’s for them.
2. Contact the government and make your voice heard. Not in an angry and rude way that they can easily ignore, but give a science based reason for your suggestion. It certainly sounds like they’re listening.
3. Don’t whine about it and throw your toys around. You’re an adult. Try to act like one.
I don’t agree with everything the SA government is doing. But it’s tough to argue with their process. Be part of the solution, not the problem.