Searching for order: learning from chaos:A qualitative research on leadership and learning of municipal managers dealing with wicked problems

This dissertation discusses how municipality managers working in or for the social domain within the municipalities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague practice leadership and learning when dealing with wicked problems. The study has led to the following key findings: First, the municipal managers in this study have been found to be eager and motivated to create added social value with their partners. Doing meaningful work is thus their primary incentive. At the same time, the way they put this into practice can involve the use of position power, particularly when they ultimately fail to ach... Mehr ...

Verfasser: van Mourik, Claudia Ingrid
Dokumenttyp: Buch
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Verlag/Hrsg.: s.n.
Schlagwörter: complexe vraagstukken / leiderschap / relationeel leiderschap / leren / relationeel leren / publieke sector / Nederlandse gemeenten / wicked problems / leadership / relational leadership / learning / relational learning / public sector / Dutch municipalities
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27167717
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/68801c9f-eddf-4018-af0e-1b4cf3aee240

This dissertation discusses how municipality managers working in or for the social domain within the municipalities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague practice leadership and learning when dealing with wicked problems. The study has led to the following key findings: First, the municipal managers in this study have been found to be eager and motivated to create added social value with their partners. Doing meaningful work is thus their primary incentive. At the same time, the way they put this into practice can involve the use of position power, particularly when they ultimately fail to achieve results while cooperating with others. Second, although municipal managers are familiar with the concept of wicked problems, they tend to simplify those problems to more manageable problems, whereby they use an approach they are familiar with, specifically when they experience pressure from the political organization to quickly achieve results. Third, municipal managers know wicked problems require a relational leadership approach. Simultaneously, the leadership skills they envision to be the most essential when dealing with wicked problems, i.e., self-management, vision, and courage, primarily focus on the manager as an individual. This does not necessarily imply that, in dealing with wicked problems, they do not pay attention to relational leadership qualities; it does imply, however, that the primary focus of leadership is on the manager’s own efforts and qualities, and not on those of the collective. Fourth, municipal managers know that learning to deal with wicked problems requires a relational approach. They would like to put this into practice but owing to the many tasks and changes they are confronted with by the political organization, they have little or no time for it. Fifth and finally, the study shows municipal managers consider the learning culture in their organizations to be insufficient in learning to deal with wicked problems. More specifically, they find it important to breed a culture of continuous ...