Tag Archives: dissent

how to win the game by changing the rules

When Seattle based outdoor recreation retailer REI announced they were giving employees a paid day off, and closing their stores on Black Friday, my immediate reaction was how BOLD, and how BRILLIANT!!
Even before their #optoutside campaign went viral. Even before their decision whipped media outlets into a frenzy. Even before I had a chance to read even one of the many articles that were subsequently published analyzing the what’s and whys of REI’s decision to abandon one of the most profitable retail sales days of the year, I knew that REI was doing something I respect and value very much…
They were winning the game by changing the rules!
If winning in retail is determined solely by profitability, then the numbers aren’t yet in to determine whether REI will take an overall hit, or get a longer term financial bump by their decision to close. My guess is that it will be the latter, however, their decision was a win for the company in more ways than just the bottom line and here’s why.
In every competitive endeavour, there is an underlying basic assumption that you win by doing the same thing as your competitors, just better. In sports you run faster, jump higher, score more, and, in retail it has become about opening earlier, closing later, and charging less and less in order to compete.
Then, every once in a while, someone competes in a different way – they develop a new way to land the high jump, a new underwater kick, or new materials that allow equipment improvements which provide competitive advantage. In the most basic of terms, I respect REI’s decision to say, “Hey we’re not going to try to compete by doing the same thing as everyone else, just better. In fact, we’re going to compete by not competing at all!” Balls. Disruption. I like it!
Next year, other retailers might follow suit, or they won’t, but REI won this year by being the first major retailer to have the boldness to go against the competition, against conventional logic, and make a stir and a statement while they were at it. The decision worked for REI because it was perceived as authentic and not contrived. It was in keeping with their message and culture, a kind gesture towards its employees for sure, but also an effective reinforcement of their collaborative brand, and a way to grow both employee and customer loyalty, while getting some amazing positive press while they were at it.
I tip my hat to REI for their decision to close their doors on Black Friday this year, and challenge us all to seize more opportunities to make bold decisions in 2016!

Understanding the Future: Bold Imagination

The innovation we need to transform our organizations is not developed by digging for the provable facts and empirical evidence hidden deep in the well of our retrospective data banks. It is not the deep analytical source of insight that will somehow help us make sense of the future. It is quite the opposite. Our ability to understand the future will come from the more intuitive, fluid, experimental process of looking forward, visualizing and anticipating the many changes that are just out of sight, around the corner and over the horizon.

Transformational leaders have a certain bold imagination that fuels their creative genius and combines it with a distinctive flair and a rebellious, revolutionary zeal to make something different, and to do so on their own terms. These are the types of leaders who reorder and reshape the pieces of the puzzle to arrive at solutions the rest of us hold in awe and envy. These are the leaders who violently shake the Etch A Sketch® to clear the old image and then proceed to draw a new one.

Navigating Direction : Mastering Pivot Points

Throughout history, the truly great leaders have known when and how to pivot when the situation and the context change. They seem to have a sixth sense and know exactly the right moment at which to abandon what is no longer working and comfortably embrace new tools more suited to the conditions they find themselves in. It is part experience, part intuition and part luck, but successfully identifying and then navigating these crucial inflection points is the responsibility of leaders. The average leader can perhaps do a respectable enough job when conditions are normal, but it takes an exceptional leader to navigate confidently in uncertain, uncharted and turbulent waters.

It seems as though the dangerous, pivotal moments of transformational change have been presenting themselves with increasing frequency in recent years. The more interconnected global economy, rapid technological advances and constantly evolving social, political and demographic changes have all come together to alter the once reliable maps we used to guide us in the post-WWII period. The question that should concern and even haunt us all is why, in the face of these changes, so many leaders, organizations and nations have not been brave enough, vigilant enough or just plain smart enough to switch tack from what may have been right and relevant in one set of circumstances to a new course, better suited to the changing conditions of the future.

Lies We Tell Ourselves

A common and all too often fatal flaw business leaders fall victim to is the tendency to focus on the immediate rather than the important. This is especially true when it comes to the really big things and the truly difficult problems in our lives or businesses. Unfortunately, the hidden costs, consequences and risks of distortion, denial and misalignment are like those of an iceberg. They can be ignored or underestimated for a short period of time, but if they aren’t dealt with, the risks will inevitably appear as if out of nowhere and overwhelm even the hardest working, most charismatic and most determined leader.

In organizational life, the leader of a huge multinational or a small independent business has the same set of responsibilities to their customers, employees and community. A major responsibility is to face up to, and deal directly with, the misalignments and gaps that conspire against the ability of the organization to perform at the highest level. Leaders must make it their absolute priority to constantly be on the lookout for the discordant signs and troubling signals that reveal things are not exactly as they should be. This requires a strong inner resolve, confidence and a balanced emotional temperament as find a way to run toward those situations with a solution in hand, not away from them in an effort to avoid conflict.

Why Write ‘Straight Talk on Leadership.’ Part 2

Some more reasoning behind my decision to write ‘Straight Talk on Leadership.’

Why Write ‘Straight Talk on Leadership’

Doug shares some motivation behind the writing of ‘Straight Talk on Leadership.’

Widening your Repertoire

The emphasis we have placed on the value of accumulated or stored knowledge we have worshiped in the past, is now a potentially dangerous source of false confidence. It is actually a rapidly depreciating asset, given the fact the half-life of anything new is shortening every day. To become a transformational leader and truly differentiate yourself, it has become increasingly important to work on your timely retrieval ability, rather than on your storage capacity. The more novel and different things you experience or have an interest in, the more likely your brain will be able to fill in the missing pieces and make the new connections that allow us to make sense out of apparent nonsense.

Leaping Across Domains

The nature and value of experience has changed along with the changes which have taken place in the external environment. The definition of experience is radically different than the one used by most business leaders in the past. It is not about the number of years of deep professional experience in a narrowly defined role or within a certain professional skill set. Instead, it is the rich variety and diversity of multiple different personal experiences that act as stimuli for the brain. It is the varied tapestry of personal experiences that helps ensure we do not become locked into narrow channels of thinking, but instead leap across domains to collect, share and assemble new patterns of insight.

Transformational Credibility

The first competency required to build a transformational leaders personal credibility bank is Emotional intelligence (EQ). It is the ability to know yourself, manage yourself and build effective relationships with others. It has been written about extensively in recent years, yet, surprisingly, it is still not well understood by everyone in business, let alone perfected and practiced by leaders at all levels. In its simplest sense, EQ requires leaders to have a solid understanding of their own emotional construct and to have the ability to manage and regulate their emotions. In addition, EQ requires the ability to understand the emotional tone and motivations of others.

Insight and Perspective
