An argument to stay young... or at least think that way.

“How business schools are adapting to the changing world of work.” I just finished reading this and it got me to thinking, and apparently to typing. In short, it offers a commentary on how business schools are changing what (and the way) they teach to prepare business students for the new world of business.

If you happen to be curious about what’s happening around you it doesn’t take long to feel the onslaught of information that suggests change of a profound scale is upon us, and will shake the very foundations of who we are, what we do, and how we will survive — AI and robotics will put hundreds of millions of people out of work (leaving them with little purpose), liberal democracy, although not out, is down for the count, our environment is cascading to a place that may not be able to sustain the world’s population, and our mastery of the gene may change what it means to be human. Is it all as dire as the collective has made it out to be? I really don’t know. Although I do know that there is a very good chance that the scope and scale of these changes will be greater than anything we have seen for quite a while.

I think we can all agree that impactful change is“afoot”.

The premise of the article, aside from still needing technical skills, was to impress that creativity and adaptability are now the cornerstones of business education; it went on to suggest that creativity, grit, teamwork, communication effectiveness and decision-making skills are crucial for long term success. I’m not entirely convinced some of these actually can be taught, but that wasn’t the first thing that came to mind. What came to mind was that when we’re young we possess these skills, and in turn, have them suppressed or broken by social and institutional endeavours — and after they are crippled and broken, have the same social and institutional endeavours suggest they can help develop them in your time of need. Why not just nurture these in the first place? Simplistic yes and maybe even trite, but nonetheless resonant.

cre·a·tiv·i·ty [ˌkrēāˈtivədē] NOUN : the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.

grit [ɡrit] NOUN : courage and resolve; strength of character.

team·work [ˈtēmˌwərk] NOUN : the combined action of a group of people, especially when effective and efficient.

communication-effectiveness [kəˌmyo͞onəˈkāSH(ə)n,iˈfektivnəs] NOUN : A two way information sharing process which involves one party sending a message that is easily understood by the receiving party.

de·ci·sion-mak·ing [dəˈsiZHənˌmākiNG] NOUN : the action or process of making decisions, especially important ones.

I don’t really know how impactful the coming changes will be but I do know I will work through them; I’m also not really in a position to speak intelligently regarding how our social and institutional endeavours encourage conformity and suppress anything innately outside the box of, and frankly I don’t even know if these are skills we are born with. What I do know though are these two things —

1. When you read you learn something, you’re encouraged to think, and ultimate encourage others to do the same.

2. Creativity, grit, teamwork, communication effectiveness and decision making skills are definitely crucial for anything you will ever do, and this includes adapting to the changing world of work.

And because I can’t help myself, I have to say we are born into this world hardwired for challenge so we definitely come with grit, and if you have ever sent a group of kids outside to play you know they will come up with something interesting (so I suppose they have creativity, teamwork, communication effectiveness and decision making skills in their young tool kit). At the very least this reinforces how important they are.

iamgpe

Reflecting on the world around us...

There is something about getting away, putting yourself in a different context, and giving yourself some time to regain perspective — as well as reflect and reenergize. This is not something new and you’ve probably heard it before, but if you are like me, you may think about it much more than actually doing it.

It also offers the opportunity to read on the plane if you are so inclined, and in my case, I read a book called Secrets of the Amazon by Barbara Gray; the book looks at the current disruptors in the marketplace such as Amazon, Tesla, and Uber. The book was lent to me by a friend who thought I would like it because I’m fascinated with disruptors, somewhat of a contrarian, and I’m always trying to stay on top of how we are doing things “differently”.

I was a bit flattered by the recognition, and I suppose after leaving a corporate setting, I have gravitated to a more entrepreneurial spirit, become involved with start-ups, invested in new technologies, blogged a fair bit, and have shifted my definitions of work, business, success, and professional growth. And I have only just started.

The book focused specifically on the change and disruption in the retail and transportation industries, as well as how we are utilizing physical space differently — it didn’t even touch on how we are augmenting our reality with VR/AR, literally changing the human condition with genetic tools such as CRISPR/Cas, how we manage our commerce, how we connect (let alone deal with the massive volume of information and its accuracy), et cetera, et cetera, It has become a very dynamic environment to survive and thrive in, and I mean this both literally and figuratively.

As I read, and reflected on what I read, I found myself writing five points for consideration on an Air Canada napkin. It was a framework of thinking and for understanding what is happening — why it is happening, and how to deal with the problems, challenges and OPPORTUNITIES that present themselves. How I will actually work these into my thinking going forward I am not sure but I know they are relevant with regards to our participation in what’s going on. And participate we must.

1. People are lazy — we want the most for the least amount of effort. Genetically, and from a survival perspective, it makes sense. It is not a reflection of anything, it just is.

2. We want what we want — some of what we want we need, and some of what we want we just want. Tools have made us the apex predator on the planet, and we continue to acquire them whether we need them or not.

3. We need connection — we need to connect with people for our very survival. We are a social species.

4. As people, we are valuable — philosophically and commercially our lifetime value is worth quite a bit; probably incalculable when you consider social contribution, commercial contribution, and emotional contribution.

5. Life is hard — yes it’s harder for some, but in general, life is a difficult endeavour all around.

These may ultimately be just the scribbles that came from a long flight, but then again, I may use them as a mental list when I listen to someone pitch their latest idea.

iamgpe

PS — The Yukon is a magical place and the air is very, very fresh.

I propose we do this...

I will go out on a limb and say that it is very rare that the first idea, first prototype, first draft, or the first of "anything" is also the last — in fact, I will be so bold to say it never happens.

The first of anything will be challenged, torn down and rebuilt, built upon to the point of being unrecognizable, or spur on something else that makes it irrelevant. It can be an uncomfortable process to be sure; both practically and emotionally. My favourite saying to illustrate this is, "Everyone who is first through the wall gets bloody; everyone", and metaphorically speaking the more different your "proposal" is from the norm, the bloodier you will get. And crazier still, it is the only way to progress in anything. 

At the very least it is a reminder that if you aren't uncomfortable you are not moving in the right direction, as well as highlighting the truism that you need to "be comfortable with being uncomfortable". Both very important reminders, but even more importantly, it is a reminder that someone needs to step up and say, "I propose we do this" — be it a new idea, a new way of thinking, or simply a first draft of the thinking around the table. Progress needs a starting point; it needs a champion. A case in point is a presentation for a strategic plan I worked on which had 27 versions in the end — not because the first version was fundamentally wrong, but because we needed a started point to challenge what we had, try to break our thinking, and initiate an iterative process of improvement.  

Anything new needs a Champion to move it forward, protect it, and foster it, as well as work through the natural challenges and pushback that come your way — not always something for the faint of heart, which I suppose, is why they call them Champions.

iamgpe