Understanding the BANI environment
The BANI environment (Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, Incomprehensible) describes today's fragile, anxious, non-linear and incomprehensible world. This new era replaces the old VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) paradigm, underlining the need for a different approach to management and leadership.
The acronym BANI sums up the difficulty of anticipating and the lightning speed of events (confinement and telecommuting yesterday, hybrid offices and work/personal balance today) as well as people's emotional state. There's no going back, and no foreseeing the future. Managers need to adapt their practices to meet these challenges.
Challenges for new managers
New managers must navigate a complex and often confusing environment. They must manage former colleagues, meet management expectations, and adapt to changing roles. The key to success lies in developing leadership skills, understanding team needs, and clearly defining their role.
Adapting managers to a BANI environment:
Brittle: always have a plan B, because there's no guarantee that plan A will work. The organization is not as robust and stable as it thinks. This creates the need for a culture of collaboration, transparency and communication.
Anxious: we can feel overwhelmed and helpless, especially if we like and feel good when everything is under control. This requires sensitivity and empathy.
Non-linear: keeping a fresh eye to adapt better, because plans "set in stone" will only be burdens that slow down the team/organization. Non-linearity is unpredictability. It's up to managers to detach themselves from the perception of predictability and prepare for possible disruptions.
Incomprehensible: to compensate for this point, we need to make room for transparency and intuition, because it won't always be possible to trace things back to their origins before making a decision. The lesson is that to think you understand the world is to delude yourself.
Perhaps BANI doesn't so much describe the world around us, as ourselves....
Organizational agility and leadership
Organizational agility is crucial to thriving in the BANI environment. It involves systemic understanding, leadership sharing and development, resilience, collective and emotional intelligence, and effective communication. What's more, managers need to adopt flexible and creative approaches to succeed.
The best-known example is Spotify, whose teams are divided into Squads, Tribes and Guilds to foster collaboration and rapid innovation. On this subject, see Agility: Promoting an Autonomous and Collaborative Organization.
Managing change and commitment
Managers need to be able to effectively manage change and commitment. This involves understanding the organizational culture, defining their management style, and aligning themselves with the organization's values and norms. The ability to adapt and respond to changing customer needs is essential.
Amazon, for example, has adapted to customer expectations regarding the delivery of goods ordered (Prime and fast deliveries), although unfortunately this has been at the expense of working conditions, or by diversifying its business (cloud solutions with AWS).
Hybrid and remote working
Hybrid and remote working presents managers with unique challenges. They need to develop the skills to coordinate and communicate effectively in a virtual environment. This includes managing remote meetings, collaborating online, and adapting to different working styles and personalities.
Microsoft is the example that immediately springs to mind, with the development of collaborative tools that overcome the challenges of distance, such as Teams...
Strategies for new managers
New managers need to focus on several key areas to succeed:
- Managing expectations: understanding and aligning expectations with management and the team.
- Developing systems thinking: looking beyond immediate responsibilities and understanding how to influence the organization as a whole.
- Communication and collaboration: establish effective communication channels and foster team collaboration.
- Managing resources and tools: ensuring that the team has the tools and resources it needs to work effectively, especially at a distance.
- Adapting to organizational culture: understanding and adapting to the organization's culture, while remaining true to your personal management style.
Conclusion
Management and leadership in the BANI environment require a flexible, creative and empathetic approach. Managers need to develop communication, problem-solving and change management skills to effectively navigate this complex and constantly evolving landscape. The key to success lies in the ability to adapt, learn and evolve as a leader in an uncertain and unpredictable world. A world in which managers play a key role, as McKinsey points out1 :
Companies able to harness the potential of middle managers deliver three times higher returns to their shareholders. Navigators, coaches and talent magnets, with both in-depth knowledge of their profession and an understanding of corporate strategy, good middle managers know how to get the best out of their people. Not least by providing the context, guidance, tools and psychological security to get the job done, while giving it meaning.
But no one is born with management skills. It's up to managers to create an environment that enables middle managers to do their jobs successfully: by investing in coaching and teaching leadership skills, as well as empowering, trusting and, above all, valuing their middle managers. Companies need to revalue the role of middle managers: treat them as a profession in their own right, with higher remuneration, rewards for effective leadership, etc. With more power at the middle level, managers can play a vital role in the organizational restructuring that these times demand.
To find out more :
New Manager: Making the Transition from Colleague to Manager
