Disruptive Innovation

Dinosaurs are extinct. A seismic cataclysmic change brought their ultimate demise. Currently, many organisations face a similar fate.

The global economic crisis is tightening its grip, daily choking long established companies as well as new players on the world stage.  One by one countless organisations are failing. Every organisation large or small is being challenged by this unprecedented time of disruptive change.

Organisations must adapt or they will fail.  Governments are grappling daily with the economic crisis caused by COVID-19.  Whilst frantically, organisations are coming to terms with their new reality.

The Greek root of the word crisis, literally means “turning point” or “decisive moment.”

This is it. 

This downturn is changing the way we live and work.

No organisation can stand still. Many are already faltering or in reverse. They must change gear, tailor an agile response and move forward, or like the dinosaurs they too will become artefacts, cast into a museum for us to recall how the once mighty have fallen.

In order to survive organisations, need a breakthrough, a complete paradigm shift from business as usual in order to adapt to the acceleration of external change.  In turn they must progress to new ways of working and new norms. A gargantuan effort to find new innovative ways to survive is crucial.

Whatever advanced operating practices, products and services are on offer – they must remain relevant to the new world order.

  • Why is change inevitable?
  • How are you adapting?
  • How agile are you?
  • What does your new beginning look like?
  • What new leadership behaviours are emerging?

 

Tomorrow

What does the world of tomorrow need from you?

As a coach, I find that many clients arrive weighed down by events from the past. Others are burdened by the things of today – their here and now.

There is much to be learned from the past and the present, but as a coach I help clients to unlock what needs to be different for them in the future.

Before you get sucked back into today’s reality, consider what do you want your future to look like….?

Rule #6

How is your week going?
A little challenging perhaps?
Some problems to attend to?

Have you considered Rule Number 6?

The following story is from Benjamin and Rosamund Zander’s book “The Art of Possibility”

“Two prime ministers are sitting in a room, discussing affairs of state.

Suddenly a man bursts in, apoplectic with fury, shouting and stamping and banging his fist on the desk. The resident prime minister admonishes him: “Peter,” he says, “kindly remember Rule Number 6,” whereupon Peter is instantly restored to complete calm, apologizes, and withdraws.

The politicians return to their conversation, only to be interrupted yet again twenty minutes later by an hysterical woman gesticulating wildly, her hair flying. Again the intruder is greeted with the words: “Marie, please remember Rule Number 6.” Complete calm descends once more, and she too withdraws with a bow and an apology.

When the scene is repeated for a third time, the visiting prime minister addresses his colleague: “My dear friend, I’ve seen many things in my life, but never anything as remarkable as this. Would you be willing to share with me the secret of Rule Number 6?” “Very simple,” replies the resident prime minister.

“Rule Number 6 is ’Don’t take yourself so @%$~* seriously.’”

“Ah, says his visitor, “that is a fine rule.” After a moment of pondering, he inquires, “And what, may I ask, are the other rules?”

“𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆.””

How can you use Rule Number 6?

Perhaps it is time that we all shift the way we think and lighten up a little – start today – smile a little more along the way!

When times get tough – try using Rule Number 6!

Disruption!

“You’re kidding dad aren’t you?” was one reply, when I said the shower wasn’t working.
A visit from a local plumber revealed that the filter in the mixer valve was worn out and needed replacing. “We’ll have to order up a new one, it’ll be a few days before it arrives – the office will call you” he said and off he went.
Forlornly we accepted the conclusion, and resigned ourselves to find alternative daily showering solutions for family members. Immediately we considered showering at our elderly neighbour’s, or going to my mother’s or asking other friends.
This was becoming a major disruptive event in our home and consequences followed.
After a few days, we still long for the part to arrive. Yet, out of necessity, we were somehow agile enough and quickly adapted. We changed our routines and helped each other by using buckets, bowls and sinks filled with water to meet our daily needs. For the time being, this is our new normal. It will change again.
In a like manner, our lives have been disrupted by COVID-19. All of us have had to adapt and change at pace, to meet the new demands placed on us by this virus.
What have you had to adapt in your life, at home or at work?
How is being agile helping you move towards a new normal?

Good enough?

I have realised – its actually okay for me not to know the answer!

Several years ago, starting out in the coaching profession, I got a little concerned about how I can help others, when I knew very little about them, their profession, their situation or even their capabilities. In the beginning of my coaching career it did create a little personal anxiety!

As time passed, this may sound kind of strange or unusual to anyone not in the coaching world, but one of the greatest lessons that I have learned as a coach, is that I really don’t need to know the whole story. Nor is it for me to come up with answers!

As a coach I have to establish a safe space, build rapport, listen to understand, ask questions, guide, challenge and along the way, I may provide suitable interventions. My role is in fact to help every coachee to learn, grow, draw up their own answers, create a plan of action and follow up to achieve their aims.

If you are in need of some coaching – please do get in touch, I’m here to help!

Promise

I know I can’t turn back time, but this I do know—that it’s never too early and it’s never too late for a new beginning.
“Four young men sit by the bedside of their dying father. The old man, with his last breath, tells them there is a huge treasure buried in the family fields. The sons crowd around him crying, “Where, where?” but it is too late. The day after the funeral and for many days to come, the young men go out with their picks and shovels and turn the soil, digging deeply into the ground from one end of each field to the other. They find nothing and bitterly disappointed, abandon the search……
…The next season the farm has its best harvest ever.”
– As told by Benjamin Zander in “The Art of Possibility”
Perhaps now is a good time to refine your plans for future harvests.
How are you digging a little deeper?

Discouragement

Even in the darkest of nights, never give up….

Just married and living in Holland, I’d just finished a long backshift in Montfoort. It had just gone midnight and it was a 5 mile bicycle ride home to Harmelen.
I got on my bike in the heavy rain and wind, to start my journey. Seconds later, I discovered that I had a puncture in the back tyre. With no repair kit, filled with discouragement and annoyance, I had no option but to wearily set out on a walk along a poorly lit road for home. Over an hour later, weather worn and drenched to the skin, I made it into the house.
I have never forgotten the feelings of frustration in my heart and mind in the early hours of that gloomy morning.
Discouragement can be a pretty common ailment and frequent visitor in our life – do you agree?
I learned an important lesson that dreary morning. The road home was a slog, but despite the setback and the hardship, I pushed forward through the darkness, against the wind and the rain – and made it safely home.
In a like manner, there are many times in our life that discouragement may prevail. Yet, by placing things in perspective, I know that some things are only for a brief moment in time – temporary obstacles that can be overcome. I learn from it and move on.
Remember, even in the darkest of nights, never give up. Morning always comes.
What do you do when you are feeling discouraged?

The 4 best ways to get through tough times.

In difficult times, I frequently find little gems of insight by revisiting defining moments in my life. Fortunately, I have recorded lots of those occasions in my journals. This weekend was a challenging one and I turned to my journals reading excerpts from 1982 and 1983. A powerful lesson emerged that I’d like to share.

What was happening in 1982?

My journal entries reveal a lot about what was happening in 1982. The Falklands War. Margaret Thatcher held a huge majority. Italy won the World Cup. ET, Gandhi and Chariots of Fire were all in the cinema.

Friday 14th May 1982 was my last day at school and 5 days later I turned 17. I had no immediate plans and found some casual work through family and friends. (It was a number of years before I made it to University.) My entries reveal that it was a time of testing and trial. Mum & Dad gave me regular encouragement, in time becoming my cheerleaders.  Summer quickly passed into autumn and a regular pattern emerged in my journal.

It was abundantly clear that I had loftier aspirations, and my journal indicates that I expended daily effort to find alternative employment. In fact, there are entries aplenty of a journey of exploration into lots of different possibilities, where I focused on writing letters, making applications and securing numerous interviews. It was evident that I was determined to make progress. On reflection, all these years later, I recognised that establishing habits and routines made me strong enough to endure the constant disappointments of the almost daily rejections I received through the post. Quite incredible really, for a young 17 year old. Sticking to a task, with gritty determination to succeed, appeared to be my mindset of the time.

And it came to pass…

One entry stated in early October stated that I had 47 live applications in due process! 47!! Eventually, success arrived. After six months of trying, on 23 December 1982, my efforts were rewarded with a job offer from Standard Life Assurance (as they were then). A few weeks later I walked to Dunfermline Station, starting in Edinburgh on 10th January 1983 and I caught the train into Waverley Station. I worked with Standard Life, for around 12 months before embarking upon another great adventure in London.

My life has taken many twists and turns in the ensuing years, travelling near and far in the leadership development world. Remarkably, after 37 years, in some serendipitous twist of fate, I have come full circle. Over the last 18 months, (as an associate with https://www.ontrackinternational.com) I have had the marvellous opportunity to work with Standard Life Aberdeen (as they are now) once again. I have been lucky to facilitate a whole range of learning and development programmes and absolutely loved it. Now, these same sessions continue virtually! When working in Edinburgh, once more I walk to the same station and catch the train into Waverley, feeling a sense of deja vu! At peak travel times, sadly some of the rolling stock still looks very similar from years gone by. Fortunately, I do earn more in a day now, than I earned in a whole month in 1983!

Lessons Learned

In the midst of times of trials, we can choose how we wish to respond. There are two kinds of knowledge – cognitive (what we learn and know in the mind) and experiential (what we learn by doing). Upon reflection, I’ve recognised some key knowledge principles that got me through the challenges of 1982 and throughout my career too, yet they seem even more valid for the struggles of 2020. It is a simple formula for success, let me share it with you….

Encouragement: The action of giving someone support, confidence, or hope

+ Effort: Use of energy to do something; physical or mental exertion; a try and attempt

+ Exploration: To search out, to look into closely, investigate, to examine

+ Endurance: Ability to last, continue or remain, to hold out

= Rewards: Something given in return for effort, service or achievement

  • 𝙀𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 + 𝙀𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩 + 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 + 𝙀𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 = 𝙍𝙚𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨

I recognise that these 4 E’s have been constants in my life. Indeed, they have been key principles that have enabled me to get through the toughest of challenges and most difficult of times. I’ve learned never to give up.

As you reflect upon your own challenges of today, please consider who encourages you, what efforts you need to apply in your own life, what do you need to explore and how can you endure it well? Although the road made appear to be filled with many obstacles at times, I know that following this simple pattern, always leads to success.

  • Who gives you encouragement to succeed?
  • Are your efforts appropriate for the challenges of today?
  • Are you exploring your possibilities?
  • What daily habits and routines have you established to enable you to endure well?

As a coach, facilitator, mentor and trainer, I regularly use this formula to help others find their way.

Turbulence

Turbulence is an unpleasant experience when flying. Such was the case at the weekend (10th March 2019) when flying back from Frankfurt. It was awful, one of the worst I’ve ever experienced.

I was sat in seat 25A, no-one in B, but there was a passenger in C, who turned to me and asked my name. I said, “I’m Daryl”. I looked at her, she was ashen white, and not in a good place. She said “Please speak to me”. I leaned over, clasping her hand in order to try to comfort and reassure her. We took a deep breath and started to talk. I asked her name, she was anxious and shaky. I spoke as reassuringly as I could whilst the plane continued to bounce up and down. Our conversation continued until gradually the turbulence subsided. Holding on, clasping hands, brought security.  We found much in common together, as we spoke for the remainder of the flight home.

Life is much like flying in an aeroplane. There is turbulence more often than not, but just like the aeroplane, we are built to handle the turbulence in life. Sometimes it can be a bit alarming and unnerving (like Sunday), however we all have times when we need to hope and cling on to someone else for something better. Together we remained focused on our conversation to get us through the difficulty of the moment.

When turbulence comes how do you distract yourself, what do you focus on?  What are you holding on to – that will enable you to get through the current storm?

Slow Ahead

Are your summer holiday plans in ruin? Our hopes of a Norwegian Fjord cruise planned for July with a dear friend faded, as the global pandemic impacted holidaymakers the world over.

And what now? In the current global turmoil, holidays almost seem so trivial.

Waking up this morning to the disturbing news of further rioting in the USA over the death of George Floyd, put into context any thoughts of holidays.  Watching the protests and Trump’s response was tragic. Slow ahead or even half astern may be more appropriate terms to use as chaos unfolds in the land of dreams.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said in 1962, “We are simply seeking to bring into full realization the American dream – a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality, of opportunity, of privilege of property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men no longer argue that the color of a mans skin determines the content of his character, the dream of a land where every man will respect the dignity and worth of human personality.”

Currently, there are many leaders sat in the Captain’s chair. Their greatest challenge is to navigate their organisations and governments through stormy waters, into a safe harbour – slow ahead. Working together, building mutual respect, understanding and leading by serving one another is key.

Consider this question – how can I best serve others?