The “paralysing uncertainty” of COVID-19 has been the driving force for a new book co-authored by UNE alumnus Rob McLean, AM, that explores new ways of thinking – and succeeding – in these craziest of times.
At perhaps few other moments in history have the challenges for leaders been more complex. Disruptions caused by geopolitics, digitisation, the biological revolution and Artificial Intelligence are gathering such momentum that even the concept of a “new normal” defies definition.
But Rob and colleague Charles Conn have spent two years charting a way forward. Their resulting work – The Imperfectionists: Strategic Mindsets for Uncertain Times, due out in early May – considers what sets exceptional problem-solvers apart and how they can be born.
“We both work in private equity and saw some people and organisations putting on a masterclass of dealing with uncertainty during the COVID pandemic,” Rob said. “Others struggled, became risk averse and found themselves unable to move forward with a strategic agenda until certainty returned. But one wave of uncertainty is followed by another. You just can’t wait for certainty; it never comes.”
Instead, the pair espouse “leaning in to the uncertainty and volatility” by:
- Adopting a curious mindset;
- Becoming tolerant of ambiguity;
- Embracing imperfection;
- Considering every situation and challenge from a variety of perspectives;
- Experimenting, relentlessly; and
- Tapping into collective experience and expertise in search of a solution.
A private equity investor and company director, Rob was Australian and New Zealand Managing Partner for McKinsey and Company. A Fulbright Scholar, he was formerly the Dean and Director of the Australian Graduate School of Management at the University of New South Wales and has served on the boards of CSR, Pacific Dunlop and Elders. Rob also serves as Chair of The Nature Conservancy Australia Board, as a Director of The Centre for Independent Studies and, with his wife Paula, funds initiatives in conservation, literacy and education through the McLean Foundation.
Studying for a first class Honours degree in Economic Statistics at UNE 50 years ago provided an “important lodestone of thinking” that has influenced Rob to this day.
“I spent a lot of my time in the agricultural economics faculty at the time and we had the most extraordinary collection of Honours and post-graduate students,” Rob says. “One of the courses I did in my Honours year was decision-making under uncertainty and at a very young age I was able to put the best of academic thinking to work. That ability to use data, think about experiments and evaluate probabilities has shaped how I have thought about uncertainty and problems for the rest of my career.”
Rob also made lifelong friends and enjoyed playing Australian rules while living in Robb College for four years, representing UNE at intervarsity and receiving the Cason Medal for best and fairest in 1967. “I was in a very fortunate position to receive an excellent education, make friends and think about the kind of career I wanted,” he said.
Rob first partnered with Charles to produce the book Bulletproof Problem Solving, published in 2019, and hopes their second collaboration will be just as valuable to managers, executives, board members, entrepreneurs, founders, and business, non-profit and government leaders.
“In today’s environments, we are encouraging leaders to lean into risk, take small steps with few consequences, and learn,” Rob said. “There will be backwards steps, but they equip us to take bigger steps forward. When we apply these different mindsets accumulatively, it results in more pragmatic problem-solving. We start to see the world and operate very differently.”
