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- The Invisible Lever: Harnessing Organizational Intelligence (OQ) to Orchestrate Change at Scale
Leaders in life sciences, healthcare, and education navigate a labyrinth of unique organizational complexities — from stringent regulatory environments to diverse stakeholder ecosystems to the challenge of driving innovation within tradition-bound organizations. Success in these sectors demands more than technical expertise or interpersonal skills: it requires a sophisticated understanding of how to influence entire organizational systems.
Organizational intelligence (OQ) offers a powerful framework for understanding how impactful leaders orchestrate these multilayered systems to achieve transformative results. Unlike IQ (cognitive intelligence), EQ (emotional intelligence), or BQ (business intelligence), OQ focuses on the ability to read, navigate, and influence organizational dynamics at scale — often without direct contact with every team member.
Professor George Yip — a renowned global strategy expert and distinguished academic whose career spans prestigious institutions, including Cambridge Judge Business School, Imperial College London, and China Europe International Business School — pioneered research on this critical but often overlooked leadership dimension (with co-author Nelson Phillips of UC Santa Barbara). This research was originally published in the Harvard Business Review in June 2020 under Good Leadership Hinges on “Organizational Intelligence.” With decades of experience across academia and business consulting, Professor Yip brings unique cross-cultural insights into how leaders can mobilize organizational systems to drive meaningful change.
In this illuminating conversation with Jennifer Borrer, Managing Director and leader in WittKieffer’s Global Life Sciences Practice, Professor Yip decodes the invisible mechanisms that transformative leaders activate to shape organizational behavior and culture and drive long-lasting impact. He shares practical strategies for developing and deploying OQ — from creating “moments of theater” to “rebelling from the top” — that can help executives in complex and distributed organizations move from mere effective management to truly impactful leadership.
Jennifer Borrer: You have had an impressive international career spanning institutions across Asia, Europe, and the USA. What motivates you to pursue new opportunities, and how has this global perspective shaped your understanding of impactful leadership?
George Yip: Well, there are both positive and negative reasons for this moving around. The positive reasons are that in keeping with my specialty, strategy, I like strategic projects and somewhat lose interest in a position when I have achieved my strategic goals. Also, I’ve been fortunate enough to have many opportunities offered to me, and I have accepted some of them, including two senior roles sourced by recruiting firms such as yours! The negative reason is that I am a misfit, being too practical to be a true academic and too much of an academic to be a practitioner, even a management consultant. That is why I have gone back and forth between business and academia in my career.
My understanding of impactful leadership has not been shaped by my global perspective but by my perspective from having worked in many different types of organizations. When you do that, it becomes clear that you have to adapt both yourself and your strategies to the organization — for example, leading a challenger organization is not the same as leading a market leader organization. But it’s a common error for executives to apply to the new job the lessons they learned from their previous one if they’ve had only limited experience in different types of organizations.
To give a very specific example, in the late 1980s, I was recruited by Price Waterhouse in Boston to lead the eastern third of the USA in their strategic management consulting startup. Price Waterhouse recruited others like me, including two who had come from perhaps the most prestigious management consulting company in the world, and these two colleagues of mine simply did not understand that they were now in an organization with zero external visibility as a provider of strategy consulting, requiring a very different approach to gaining clients.
Jennifer Borrer: There is an ongoing debate about how leadership effectiveness varies across cultures. Given your extensive cross-cultural experience, what is your view on universal leadership principles versus culturally specific approaches?
George Yip: There is indeed an ongoing debate about whether leadership effectiveness is driven more by universal principles or by culturally specific practices. In my view, both elements are essential. Certain core principles — such as integrity, vision, and the ability to inspire — tend to transcend cultural boundaries. However, how these principles are expressed and received can vary significantly depending on cultural context. My cross-cultural experience has shown me that effective leaders adapt their communication and decision-making styles to fit local expectations while remaining grounded in universal values. This blend of consistency and adaptability is key to successful global leadership. In addition, we need to be aware that with globalization, more and more individuals are multicultural, such as me with three primary cultures — Chinese, British, and American — with overlays of various European tastes and cultures, such as loving to sing in Italian. Also, research has shown that individuals can be primed by the situation to behave more according to one of their cultures than another.
Jennifer Borrer: Let’s shift gears and talk about what you call “organizational intelligence” (OQ) — the concept you introduced. How does it differ from other leadership qualities like emotional intelligence (EQ), business intelligence (BQ), and IQ, and why do you consider it essential for top-level success?
George Yip: OQ is fundamentally about knowing how to get a large organization to do what you want. While IQ measures cognitive ability, EQ relates to interpersonal skills and emotional awareness, and BQ reflects deep business knowledge, OQ is about influencing an entire organization’s behavior — especially when leaders are too far removed for one-on-one influence to be effective. Unlike EQ, which relies more on face-to-face interaction, OQ scales to influence thousands or millions of people through symbolic actions, messaging, and cultural shifts.
Leaders like Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos, despite lacking high EQ, were successful — partly due to their mastery of OQ.
Jennifer Borrer: You identify five key competencies of OQ. Let’s delve deeper into some of them. First, the concept of “rebelling from the top” seems counterintuitive. Could you elaborate on how leaders can effectively challenge the status quo while maintaining organizational stability?
George Yip: “Rebelling from the top” refers to leaders using their position of power strategically to challenge the status quo. Effective leaders don’t fight every battle — they pick the ones that matter. This competency requires emotional intelligence to sense where resistance might occur and maturity to walk away from unnecessary fights.
A great example is Tesco’s Terry Leahy, who waited until he reached top leadership before introducing bold changes like the Clubcard and online fulfillment from stores — both revolutionary at the time.
Jennifer Borrer:Your research emphasizes the importance of “moments of theater.” How can leaders create these moments authentically without appearing staged or manipulative?
George Yip: Moments of theater are symbolic, dramatic actions that convey powerful strategic messages. To be authentic, the message must be clear and aligned with the organization’s ethos, while being unexpected but meaningful rather than gimmicky. Effective theatrical moments require minimal resources but yield maximum symbolic impact.
For instance, when Steve Jobs dropped an iPod prototype in water to show there was still space inside, it became a legendary moment that embodied his relentless pursuit of perfection.
Jennifer Borrer: You point out that using “action strategy” rather than consensus building can be more effective at the top. How can leaders balance this approach with the need for buy-in and engagement of team members?
George Yip: At senior levels, leaders often don’t have the luxury of time for consensus. Instead, they may adopt action-first strategies — starting initiatives quietly, building momentum, and gathering support as results appear. This reduces resistance and accelerates change.
An example of this approach was my experience at the Rotterdam School of Management, where I implemented changes before announcing a formal strategy. To balance this, leaders should still seek political support and key allies and time more formal discussions for when the mood is receptive.
Jennifer Borrer: You discuss the importance of fostering an “organizational ethos.” What key elements make an ethos truly resonate throughout an organization, and how long does it typically take to establish one?
George Yip: A resonant ethos includes clear, memorable statements that guide behavior, such as Huawei’s “Wolf Spirit.” What makes these statements powerful is their consistent communication and reinforcement across the organization, coupled with alignment with leadership behavior and strategic actions. While building such a strong ethos typically takes several years, its influence is lasting and profound.
At Edwardian Hotels in the UK, their ethos (“Mind of a Leader, Spirit of a Warrior, Heart of a Host”) has become deeply embedded, shaping employee behavior and driving innovation.
Jennifer Borrer: The research suggests that leaders should “embrace bureaucracy rather than rail against it.” Could you explain this seemingly paradoxical advice and provide examples of how successful leaders have done this?
George Yip: Rather than railing against bureaucracy, effective leaders use it to their advantage, like a judo master using an opponent’s strength. In business practice, this approach manifests in several ways. First, it involves sending strategic emails or other messages at precisely the right time when they’ll have maximum impact. Second, it requires applying minimal but precise interventions — knowing exactly where in the system a small change will create ripple effects. Third, it means using the organization’s existing processes to drive change.
Leaders should also manage perceptions — following small rules so that breaking big ones (when necessary) carries credibility. It’s about subtle mastery, not resistance. No chainsaws!
Jennifer Borrer: How can organizations cultivate OQ in their leadership teams? What role should awareness of OQ play in leadership development?
George Yip: Leaders with strong OQ typically demonstrate certain observable patterns:
- They influence large groups indirectly and effectively.
- They skillfully use symbols, actions, and cultural levers to shape behavior.
- They navigate complex organizational dynamics with strategic finesse.
Organizations can nurture these skills through coaching, reflection, strategic role modeling, and exposure to cross-functional, large-scale initiatives.
Jennifer Borrer: How has the digital age influenced the evolution of OQ? Are there new competencies that leaders must develop in response to technological changes?
George Yip: In the digital era, the ability to lead without direct contact has become even more critical, amplifying the need for OQ. The modern leader must harness digital platforms to reinforce strategy and ethos, often reaching thousands of employees simultaneously. This requires crafting compelling narratives and symbols that translate effectively online. Additionally, leaders now need to develop new personas that transcend physical presence, creating impact through virtual channels.
Moments of theater, symbolic messages, and ethos-building must now occur both in physical and virtual spaces, requiring even more intentionality and digital fluency.
Jennifer Borrer: Thank you, Professor Yip, for these insights. Your perspective offers leaders a powerful framework and makes it clear that OQ is not just another leadership tool — it is the invisible yet transformative lever that allows impactful leaders to orchestrate meaningful change on a large scale.
George Yip: Thank you, Jennifer. It’s been a pleasure discussing these concepts. I hope leaders will recognize that by cultivating this critical leadership capability, they can go beyond traditional management approaches to create lasting, positive impact in their organizations.
More About Professor George Yip
George Yip is the Emeritus Professor at Imperial College London and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Northeastern University. His previous academic appointments include Harvard University, UCLA, the University of Cambridge, and the London Business School. He has also held industry roles as Vice President and Director of Research & Innovation at Capgemini Consulting, and as the Strategic Management Consulting leader at Price Waterhouse. Professor Yip has extensive experience researching, consulting, teaching, and delivering keynote speeches for many of the world’s leading companies. His notable publications include China’s Next Strategic Advantage: From Imitation to Innovation, Strategic Transformation, Managing Global Customers, and Total Global Strategy. He holds an MBA and DBA from Harvard University, and a BA and MA in Economics from the University of Cambridge.
More About Jennifer Borrer
Jennifer Borrer is the Managing Director of WittKieffer’s Life Sciences Practice in Switzerland. She specializes in Consumer Health, MedTech, and Biotech search focused on longevity and healthy aging. With two decades of experience in senior executive talent management, she has successfully led leadership searches across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, conducting cross-industry searches across four continents and in diverse, multicultural environments. She is an elected member of the AESC European Council and Diversity Council, and is a recognized career strategist, having worked with leading business schools IMD and HEC Lausanne as an external coach.
