Lesson 2.4 | Doing Differently
TRANSCRIPT
Now, seeing differently is good. Thinking about what you see is better. But it doesn't matter until we start to do something differently. Because when we do something differently, that is where we either create or destroy value, hopefully creating. So, what can we do differently? How can we not protect the status quo? How can we not settle for what's happening?
Companies that do differently often exercise their creative muscle and innovate in various ways, innovation, and creative solutions, from smartphones and the Internet of Things to Pinterest to online banking and apps like Venmo. None of these would have been possible without people thinking creatively and innovating to make something different.
The other way companies can do differently, and this is important when you think about becoming a future-ready leader in our permacrisis, turbulent world, is to become prepared and resilient. If you think about Scouts, Girl Scouts, or Boy Scouts, their motto is to “be prepared.” For a scout, if you are in the wilderness or on a hike, you’re going to have your pocketknife. If you're staying overnight, you're going to have a tent, a sleeping bag, and, if you're lucky, matches. But if not, you know how to rub those sticks together to start a fire.
Preparedness comes in many forms. For those in the Southeast of the US, like in Florida or the Carolinas. We get hurricanes in the summer and in the fall. Home Depot and Lowe's, which do home supplies, plywood, and other construction materials, have playbooks regarding hurricanes. So, when they know that a hurricane is coming a few days in advance, they're already moving critical supplies to the stores that are going to be in the storm area. They are prepared. They make sure they're properly staffed and that those stores can recover quickly.
So, let's recap. We talked about four important things in lesson two. First, we talked about whether you are going to be a captain or a captive. Are you going to take agency? Are you going to influence and shape your own destiny? We then talked about seeing differently. And seeing things from different perspectives and zooming in and zooming out. We talked about thinking differently, different models, different mindsets, and both/and thinking. And we just talked about doing things differently, how we can innovate, be creative, and become and stay prepared.
So now the question is, how do we put this together and become future-ready? What capabilities do we need to be successful? I would argue that for many, what I'm talking about is not part of core leadership skills, so new capabilities are needed. In the next lesson, I will introduce a new leadership capability model that guides and enables leaders to become future-ready and thrive.