Chaos and destruction have been the catalysts for some of the most groundbreaking breakthroughs. Do not tune out thinking this article is all doom and gloom.
This concept can be applied to your life and business. You will see that exponential growth is caused by something being destroyed, destroyed, or disabled. It could have been technology that was no longer relevant, or it could have been releasing employees, or a significant increase in revenue. Innovation can be made possible by whatever needed to be detonated.
This article was inspired by my consulting work with many companies as well as the coaching I provided for many CEOs and their leadership teams.
My work is characterized by patterns. I am paid to see those patterns and help identify the opportunities for innovation and what needs to be detonated.
Some things I believe are essential for innovation include:
1. Detonate the Past (Let it go, move past it, use the remaining applicable and let go of the rest).
2. Detonate your identity (leadership identity. Rethink your business identity. Let go of clinging to an old identity).
3. Detonate systems are those that do not serve the business, add too many rules or slow down progress.
These may seem like a list that you don’t have to ‘detonate’. However, the leaders and companies that have outperformed their competition have done the exact same thing.
Ellen DeGeneres is an example of the first. She debuted her TV shows, which she acknowledged but then set out to create a new identity and persona that has won her over to millions.
Oprah is a great example of the second. She was willing to let go her Oprah TV show identity, which was very successful, and she became a producer and owner of OWN.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, embodies the third by creating unique share structures and open work spaces. He also keeps the rules low in his predominantly Generation X workforce.
We need to invent because something has to give way to the new. It’s impossible to have Spring without Winter, and Fall without Summer. Like the seasons, there are seasons for business.
This article will ask you to think about where innovation is needed right now. These are some questions that will help you.
#1 – Is growth stable? If so, where can we be complacent?
#2- I don’t know where to find the information I need, but I resist because it will be difficult and too much work.
#3 – When was the last time I let go of my identity as a CEO or leader, and reinvented my self?
These questions will help you see that we are always changing, that we live and work in times that don’t allow for stability.
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