If you haven’t listened to today’s podcast where I explore mindset and the leader’s dilemma (Episode #11) I invite you to do that now.
When studying for my MBA in the 80’s I learned a lot about theory, process and best practices. Over my career I heard endlessly about the importance of sticking with the tried and true and only innovating on the edges. The leaders I respected and, frankly the ones I enjoyed working with, were the ones who were less entrenched in the limitations of process and best practices.
Now as I am exploring innovation from a fresh perspective, I recognize the dilemma. A leader is asked to forecast and predict the outcomes that will be produced by their strategy and decisions so it is prudent to calculate based on past successful processes and best practices. At least if you fail you can point to how well you executed on a proven approach. I have often wondered out loud though about why we continue to serve processes and best practices long after they serve us.
In their book, “The Other Side of Innovation” Chris Timble and Vijay Govindarajan (sorry if I butchered the pronunciation of your name on my podcast VG) argue that our modern business systems are built for efficiency not innovation. AND YET, we all know innovation is exactly what we need for our economy, our businesses, our government policy, our social structures to survive and thrive in the 21st Century!
In this week’s podcast I muse about whether we need more of the wild woman spirit to take the lead. This may sound trite or flippant AND I really think there may be something to this. That’s not to say that women have maintained that inner spirit through the ages–and yet I can’t help but believe we can still tap into it and maybe even improve upon it.
Leading thinkers are suggesting success will be found by those who bring a distinctly different mindset so what do we have to lose by playing with the Wild Woman Spirit? Einstein famously said,
“We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them”.
So lets go to another level…I suspect we won’t find that in 20th Century Thinking which means we have to get serious about being dissenters from past practices. The question simply is: are we willing to be uncomfortable, embrace a bit of chaos, live with uncertainty as we play with possibilities?
As Friedrich Nietzsche teaches us:
“You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.”
I want a dancing star! The three small things I suggest you can do in the podcast are:
- Expand your curiosity. Consider viewing certainty as dangerous so when something seems like the obvious path, require yourself to find at least three more options before making a decision AND make it a daily discipline to challenge your choices and decisions.
- Observe and open your Blind Spots. It is difficult to do this on your own–you are blind in these areas for a reason. It may be worth it though since a lot of insights and opportunities are hidden behind these spots. We all have a few of these. Learning where yours commonly occur will be a helpful early step. As part of this practice you may benefit from embracing ambiguity. I know, we live in a world that craves clarity so this may sound ridiculous!
- Expand your definition of creativity. Think Differently! Innovation requires you to be able to lead through chaos rather than eradicate it, to see your way through confusion, and to be able to sleep soundly even when uncertain.
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Next Week: The start of a new series on Conversations: the Leader’s most powerful tool for impact. And for now….
Make it a Kickass Day–so you can make your life better—the life you’ve always wanted.