All in Strategy
It seems to me that if you want to develop a support base or a following for the long term - a group of people who buy into your vision of the future, a tribe, if you will - then there's no better time to lay the groundwork than now.
Because building tribes is not an easy process.
There's a great quote that goes something like:
The definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result each time.
This was echoed in a recent cartoon put out by the consulting firm, McKinsey & Company:
In the novel, Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse, Siddartha, a man beset by an inner restlessness and search for enlightenment, meets Gotama Buddha. He has heard Gotama's teachings, and despite being impressed by their clarity and perfection of thought, he informs him that he, Siddartha, cannot become one of his followers, but needs to choose his own path to enlightenment.
Change is the one thing, in addition to death and taxes, that you can count on.
Whether in our personal or professional lives, after a while, you can count on the fact that the way things are cannot be the way things stay. Especially if the goal is to evolve in any sort of positive, developmental fashion.
The Arctic Monkeys, an English rock band, recently released their sixth studio album, Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino. The album itself is a marked departure from their prior music, which was more straight-ahead rock. This one is more relaxed, more laid back, with each song an almost cinematic and (at times) introspective episode unto itself. It's the kind of album that reveals itself, little by little, upon successive plays.
"It's not for you."
If what I'm offering - a product, a service, a connection, an idea, a friendship - doesn't resonate with who I'm offering it to, the tendency is to try harder. To promote it more vigorously. To look for additional angles to 'make the sale'.
It's happened to all of us. We start on a change program, get excited about the possibilities and the agenda we've laid out. We foresee the change we need to create and what it's going to take for us to get there. And it's awesome.
But driving this change - as we expect - requires a lot of work. Many special projects and tasks that have to get done. (All while we're juggling our regular day job.)
There's a great quote that says that selling (anything) is essentially a transfer of enthusiasm.
There's a lot of truth in that and it matters whether you're in sales or not. You could be selling an idea, a project or an initiative to your boss. You could be promoting a new marketing plan for your non-profit or trying to raise money for a cause.
Process helps. For so many aspects of our lives that we grapple with, someone, somewhere has defined a process, and it's one that works. Especially when it comes to routine, straightforward activities.
But for many other decision areas, from making the sale to conducting an analysis to hiring an employee, processes exist, and they help, but only to a certain extent.
I was listening to a podcast the other day in which the main subject of the show - a storied entrepreneur - made a very interesting comment.
If you have to create an “innovation center”, then you’ve already failed.
There's certainly a value to be placed on growth. On the continual pursuit of expansion.
It drives us to look for development opportunities, to rethink how things are done, to change what we think is 'conventional' i.e. "the way it's always been".
Growth is a tremendous value creator.
"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." (Lao Tzu)
We love stories. We love telling them. We love listening to them. We love creating them. We love being part of them. Stories define our lives and our experiences. They remind us of who we have been and help make us who we are. They also shape who we want to be.
"The art of life is a constant readjustment to our surroundings." (Kakuzo Okakaura)
"A wise man adapts himself to circumstances, as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it." (Chinese proverb)
Too often, when there is a change in our surroundings, our environment, our organization, or our personal lives - one that impacts the status quo in a material way, we can be at a loss as to how to react.
"We are living in an increasingly digital world that craves analog sensation."*
Digital is ubiquitous. From our work to our hobbies to our entertainment to our commerce, the digital-to-analog ratio in our lives has ramped up exponentially over the last two decades. To the point where the promise of digital has now become very much a reality.
It's natural to fall in love with your product. We spend a lot of time developing and nurturing them, cultivating them to the point where we are ready to put them in the market. And when customers are receptive to what we have to offer, once the uptake is there and the product is generating profitable margins, we double down.
This is freedom. This is love for what you do. This is where your work is your art.
Thom Yorke’s performance is open and honest. He’s immersed in his art, his work. He’s not afraid of being vulnerable.
In sport, as in life, the safe play won't make you a champion.
It might help you avoid a loss, maybe even get you the odd win here or there, but it won't propel you to the top of the league.
