David Wilkinson (ambiguity expert)
Encyclopedia
David John Wilkinson is considered to be one of the foremost experts and authors on how people deal with Ambiguity
and Emotional Resilience / Psychological resilience
. He is the originator of the Modes of Leadership
concept which correlates ambiguity tolerance
, risk aversion
, emotional resilience (Psychological resilience
) and thinking systems and in 2009 The Metus Model and strategy for developing emotional resilience in organizations.
of 1984. 1n 1990 he was chosen as Director of Studies at the then Police Central Planning Unit and later was promoted to Head of Quality Assurance in National Police Training. During this time he was responsible for Command Level Public Order Training and was part of the Gold, Silver and Bronze command development team. Much of this work was focussed on preparing senior police leaders (gold and silver) to deal with serious civil disturbances and other such ongoing and fluid major incidents.
. During this time he became known for a series of experiments he devised on aggression and video games. He then won a place at the University of Oxford
where he conducted Masters and Doctoral Studies on the acculturation of police officers which involved the creation of a new research process-time lapse reparatory grids.
as a part time lecturer. He quickly became a senior lecturer at Oxford Brookes University
in 1996. In 2001 he was made Head of Professional Development at Cranfield University
where he conducted his initial research in to leaders reactions to ambiguity
and published his first book in which he first postulated the idea of the Modes of Leadership
.
During this time he was heavily involved in developing and delivering training for disaster management and post-terrorist event leadership around the world through the Cranfield University Resilience Centre.
David Wilkinson's unique facilitative teaching style at University has won him many plaudits, to the extent that he is often found teaching lecturing skills to fellow lecturers around the world.
He currently lectures at a number of UK Universities including: Oxford (Medical Sciences Division), Oxford Brookes (Business School), Cardiff, York, Southampton, Reading, Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores.
He is a lead facilitator and exercise director at The National Crisis Leadership Centre in Kent, in the UK.
. Each mode is a system of thinking or series of perceptions. Wilkinson considers that the way people think and how they perceive the world alters their relationship with ambiguity
, risk
and uncertainty
. The original 4 modes published in 'The Ambiguity Advantage' are:
and the individuals emotional reactions to uncertainty and their perceptions of risk. He has carried out a number of studies in this area and makes a clear distinction between emotional resilience and emotional intelligence.
A lot of his current work is focussed on helping people become more confident in difficult and ambiguous situations. He writes about and runs workshops that show people how to develop emotional resilience and reduce their fears, nerves and anxieties and deal with difficulties and make decisions with greater confidence.
Wilkinson is also the founder of The Fear Course in the UK.
Wilkinson also works for the British Council around the world helping to improve educational provision in developing countries.
He was made Chairman of the International Therapeutic Standards Authority in August 2011.
He gave the Keynote speech at the 2011 ACPO ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers)
conference at NPIA NPIA (National Police Improvement Agency)
Ryton-on-Dunsmore, entitled "When in doubt, fool yourself you are getting better".
Ambiguity
Ambiguity of words or phrases is the ability to express more than one interpretation. It is distinct from vagueness, which is a statement about the lack of precision contained or available in the information.Context may play a role in resolving ambiguity...
and Emotional Resilience / Psychological resilience
Psychological resilience
Resilience in psychology refers to the idea of an individual's tendency to cope with stress and adversity. This coping may result in the individual “bouncing back” to a previous state of normal functioning, or using the experience of exposure to adversity to produce a “steeling effect” and function...
. He is the originator of the Modes of Leadership
Modes of Leadership
David Wilkinson described four modes of leadership in his 2006 book, The Ambiguity Advantage.-Mode vs style:In situational leadership theory, styles of leadership refer to behaviors that a leader should engage with in different situations...
concept which correlates ambiguity tolerance
Ambiguity tolerance
Ambiguity tolerance is the ability to perceive ambiguity in information and behavior in a neutral and open way.Ambiguity tolerance is an important issue in personality development and education...
, risk aversion
Risk aversion
Risk aversion is a concept in psychology, economics, and finance, based on the behavior of humans while exposed to uncertainty....
, emotional resilience (Psychological resilience
Psychological resilience
Resilience in psychology refers to the idea of an individual's tendency to cope with stress and adversity. This coping may result in the individual “bouncing back” to a previous state of normal functioning, or using the experience of exposure to adversity to produce a “steeling effect” and function...
) and thinking systems and in 2009 The Metus Model and strategy for developing emotional resilience in organizations.
Early life
Wilkinson was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire in the UK to Mary Doreen and David Wilkinson. He failed at school but traveled widely especially in Africa with his parents and younger sister Liz.Army
After School, due to his lack of school qualifications he joined the Army and served mainly in Northern Ireland during the late 1970s as an NCO.Police
In 1980 Wilkinson joined the UK police. He was involved in the civil unrest and riots in Liverpool 8 or Toxteth in 1981 and the miners strikeMiners strike
Miner's strikes are when miners conduct strike actions.* UK miners' strike * African Mine Workers' Strike 1946* Asturian miners' strike of 1934* Cripple Creek miners' strike of 1894* Bituminous Coal Miners' Strike 1894, 1974, 1977...
of 1984. 1n 1990 he was chosen as Director of Studies at the then Police Central Planning Unit and later was promoted to Head of Quality Assurance in National Police Training. During this time he was responsible for Command Level Public Order Training and was part of the Gold, Silver and Bronze command development team. Much of this work was focussed on preparing senior police leaders (gold and silver) to deal with serious civil disturbances and other such ongoing and fluid major incidents.
Education and studies
His first degree was in Psychology, obtained from the Open UniversityOpen University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
. During this time he became known for a series of experiments he devised on aggression and video games. He then won a place at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
where he conducted Masters and Doctoral Studies on the acculturation of police officers which involved the creation of a new research process-time lapse reparatory grids.
Universities
Wilkinson started his academic career at the University of OxfordUniversity of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
as a part time lecturer. He quickly became a senior lecturer at Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University is a new university in Oxford, England. It was named to honour the school's founding principal, John Brookes. It has been ranked as the best new university by the Sunday Times University Guide 10 years in a row...
in 1996. In 2001 he was made Head of Professional Development at Cranfield University
Cranfield University
Cranfield University is a British postgraduate university based on two campuses, with a research-oriented focus. The main campus is at Cranfield, Bedfordshire and the second is the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom based at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire. The main campus is unique in the United...
where he conducted his initial research in to leaders reactions to ambiguity
Ambiguity
Ambiguity of words or phrases is the ability to express more than one interpretation. It is distinct from vagueness, which is a statement about the lack of precision contained or available in the information.Context may play a role in resolving ambiguity...
and published his first book in which he first postulated the idea of the Modes of Leadership
Modes of Leadership
David Wilkinson described four modes of leadership in his 2006 book, The Ambiguity Advantage.-Mode vs style:In situational leadership theory, styles of leadership refer to behaviors that a leader should engage with in different situations...
.
During this time he was heavily involved in developing and delivering training for disaster management and post-terrorist event leadership around the world through the Cranfield University Resilience Centre.
David Wilkinson's unique facilitative teaching style at University has won him many plaudits, to the extent that he is often found teaching lecturing skills to fellow lecturers around the world.
He currently lectures at a number of UK Universities including: Oxford (Medical Sciences Division), Oxford Brookes (Business School), Cardiff, York, Southampton, Reading, Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores.
He is a lead facilitator and exercise director at The National Crisis Leadership Centre in Kent, in the UK.
Modes of Leadership
Best known for his work on leader's reactions to ambiguity, David Wilkinson itemized those reactions into 4 (originally) and now 6 Modes of LeadershipModes of Leadership
David Wilkinson described four modes of leadership in his 2006 book, The Ambiguity Advantage.-Mode vs style:In situational leadership theory, styles of leadership refer to behaviors that a leader should engage with in different situations...
. Each mode is a system of thinking or series of perceptions. Wilkinson considers that the way people think and how they perceive the world alters their relationship with ambiguity
Ambiguity
Ambiguity of words or phrases is the ability to express more than one interpretation. It is distinct from vagueness, which is a statement about the lack of precision contained or available in the information.Context may play a role in resolving ambiguity...
, risk
Risk
Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity will lead to a loss . The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists . Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks"...
and uncertainty
Uncertainty
Uncertainty is a term used in subtly different ways in a number of fields, including physics, philosophy, statistics, economics, finance, insurance, psychology, sociology, engineering, and information science...
. The original 4 modes published in 'The Ambiguity Advantage' are:
- Mode One - Technical thinking and perceptions
- Mode Two - Co-operative thinking and perceptions
- Mode Three - Collaborative thinking and perceptions
- Mode Four - Generative thinking and perceptions
Ambiguity Continuum
This was a device Wilkinson constructed to explain the relationship between ambiguity, risk, vagueness, uncertainty and chaos. Additionally it describes how leader's reactions and perceptions create different outcomes in different situations. Wilkinson also uses it to explain the perceptual connections between certainty and chaos and what he calls the 'Paradox of Certainty' and the 'Paradox of Chaos'.Emotional Resilience (E.R.)
A key element of his work has been the connection between ambiguity toleranceAmbiguity tolerance
Ambiguity tolerance is the ability to perceive ambiguity in information and behavior in a neutral and open way.Ambiguity tolerance is an important issue in personality development and education...
and the individuals emotional reactions to uncertainty and their perceptions of risk. He has carried out a number of studies in this area and makes a clear distinction between emotional resilience and emotional intelligence.
A lot of his current work is focussed on helping people become more confident in difficult and ambiguous situations. He writes about and runs workshops that show people how to develop emotional resilience and reduce their fears, nerves and anxieties and deal with difficulties and make decisions with greater confidence.
Metus Model & Strategy
Developed largely on the back of his work with Emotional Resilience, Wilkinson's Metus (fear of change) Model & Strategy(2009) explains what happens in organisations during change events, how the fear of change develops and describes a strategy for increasing emotional resilience in organisations and getting organisational populations to engage with change. This is now popularly known as the Fear to Flow model.The Ambiguity Chess Game
Wilkinson developed a form of chess to teach his students the effects of ambiguity and show them how to solve problems in ambiguous times. This has since become known as the Ambiguity Chess Game and is now used in university business schools around the world.Current work
He is the founder and Director of Centre i (Centre for innovation, inspiration and influence) in Oxford, UK.Wilkinson is also the founder of The Fear Course in the UK.
Wilkinson also works for the British Council around the world helping to improve educational provision in developing countries.
He was made Chairman of the International Therapeutic Standards Authority in August 2011.
Research Interests
Wilkinson's current writing and research is focused on:- Agile leadershipAgile leadershipThe ability of a leader to be able to lead well in a wide range of circumstances especially new, changing and ambiguous situations.-Introduction:Agile Leadership is associated with mode four leaders who have the ability to operate in any mode and most importantly see from the perspectives of the...
, - leadership developmentLeadership developmentLeadership development refers to any activity that enhances the quality of leadership within an individual or organization. These activities have ranged from MBA style programs offered at university business schools to action learning, high-ropes courses and executive retreats.- Developing...
- organizational change
- leaders reactions to ambiguityAmbiguityAmbiguity of words or phrases is the ability to express more than one interpretation. It is distinct from vagueness, which is a statement about the lack of precision contained or available in the information.Context may play a role in resolving ambiguity...
, uncertaintyUncertaintyUncertainty is a term used in subtly different ways in a number of fields, including physics, philosophy, statistics, economics, finance, insurance, psychology, sociology, engineering, and information science...
and riskRiskRisk is the potential that a chosen action or activity will lead to a loss . The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists . Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks"... - ambiguity toleranceAmbiguity toleranceAmbiguity tolerance is the ability to perceive ambiguity in information and behavior in a neutral and open way.Ambiguity tolerance is an important issue in personality development and education...
, and - emotional resilience.
Media Appearances
Wilkinson makes frequent appearances in the UK, US and global radio, news print and television shows, as an expert in the field of leading in crisis and difficult situations, especially with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and other news outlets. Additionally he is frequently quoted in news print. He has spoken on the topics of policing public order situations (BBC 5Live), coping with disasters (ITN, CNN), emotional resilience in a crisis and turbulent situations (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, CBS, CNN, Al-Jazeera, Oman News, Saudi Business, Financial Times etc.).He gave the Keynote speech at the 2011 ACPO ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers)
Association of Chief Police Officers
The Association of Chief Police Officers , established in 1948, is a private limited company that leads the development of policing practice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.ACPO provides a forum for chief police officers to share ideas and coordinates the strategic...
conference at NPIA NPIA (National Police Improvement Agency)
National Policing Improvement Agency
The United Kingdom's National Policing Improvement Agency is a non-departmental public body established to support police by providing expertise in such areas as information technology, information sharing, and recruitment.-Background:...
Ryton-on-Dunsmore, entitled "When in doubt, fool yourself you are getting better".
Further reading
- Grint, K. (2007) "Learning to Lead: Can Aristotle Help Us Find the Road to Wisdom?" Leadership.2007; 3: 231-246
- Wilkinson, D.J. (2007) Leaders cause more problems than they solve." Chapter in "Air Force Leadership: Changing Culture." Pages 137 - 147. RAF Leadership Centre. ISBN 978-0-9552189-5-8
- Wilkinson, D.J. (2009) Emotional Resilience - what it is and what it isn't. Web Article
- Wilkinson, D.J. (2009) Emotional Resilience, emotional maturity and the dog with one spot. Web Article