Want to know how to re-invent your organization? Start by reinventing yourself!

As if the non-stop economic challenges of the past three years weren’t bad enough, a hidden crisis is beginning to emerge from the economic rubble that has taken residence in so many people’s lives: Organization and business leaders have to deal with a challenge for which they are completely unprepared, and in most cases, have never encountered or been trained to handle. 

Organizations are increasingly recognizing that today’s turbulent times require nothing short of continual deposits of innovation in order to experience reinvention. Weathering the rough waves of today’s cyclones is simply not enough; organizations must be poised to design and integrate repeatable processes that regularly renew their firms before the next crisis hits. The inertia that stems from the processes normally takes hold once everyone achieves a definite buy-in, moving in the same direction, doing the same thing and at the same time. This type of renewal must begin with the leaders themselves. 

For generations, the United States had a culture that supported entrepreneurialism and the creation of new growth businesses. Regions like Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and Silicon Valley in California represented the embodiment of this culture. Today, individuals and the organizations that also support this form of growth – entrepreneurialism, new creations and positive energy – must develop this ability as well. 

Leaders and organizations alike need to understand the arrangement stemming from the economic rubble that defines the way forward for the future; they must understand the importance of building a “dual core” culture that excels at building new growth opportunities, while harnessing the full potential of existing businesses. It’s a tough challenge. Consider the seemingly paradoxical demands this challenge places on leaders’ plates: 

• I must focus on running operations with strategic and flawless execution without stifling creativity.
• I am valued today for my successful existing business, but tomorrow’s ideas are critical for long-term success.
• Attention to detail and focus on numbers has allowed me to progress in my career, but too much detail- or number-orientation can crowd out innovation.
• If I am to achieve the successes that I am striving, I must be prepared to do that which I have never done in my past.  
• I must leverage current capabilities, my strengths, to win over my own vulnerabilities, my weaknesses, to win my Future Picture, while helping others to find their voice.  

These challenges call into mind the old words of F. Scott Fitzgerald: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the same mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” Passing Fitzgerald’s test requires that leaders manage two different “gut instincts” at the same time, one more operational and one more entrepreneurial. Few leaders do this well, and even then, one side of the gut usually dominates. 

Importantly, individual leaders who can personally pass Fitzgerald’s test often can’t crisply articulate how they do so, which inhibits their ability to develop and select the next generation of leaders. The good news? Researchers, such as Harvard’s Robert Kegan in his book “In Over Our Heads,” have mapped out the stages of inner development that one must traverse to be an effective multi-selved leader. 

However, the bad news? Kegan’s research also demonstrates what we instinctively know; only a tiny fraction of adults, even the leaders of global firms, reach a self-development stage where they can confidently confront paradox. It seems counterintuitive that achievement-oriented individuals haven’t naturally achieved personal development levels that allow them to master these kinds of challenges. The problem isn’t a lack of basic intelligence, desire, or capacity. Rather, they haven’t developed the ability to grapple with paradox because they haven’t needed to. 

Additional research, such as the works of author Damian D. “Skipper” Pitts, a United States Marine turned business consultant, discusses in his book “Success TRAPS: Awaken your Realized Potential for Lasting Fulfillment,” the phenomenon known as The Paradox of Achievement: The Art, Discipline, Practice and Purpose of the Shifting Individual. He suggests that change, like it or not, is the most predominant fact of our age. “Shift Happens!” None of us can prevent it, but ALL of us must deal with it. To do so, he offers five disciplines to integrate into our lives to overcome the paradox: 1) improving personal proficiencies, 2) adopt  transformational thinking, 3) learn to swim in blue oceans, 4) paint a Picasso on the canvas of life – legacy, and 5) achieve professional mastery – character. 

He believes that these five disciplines create new waves of experimentation and advancement – and, hopefully, “shifting individuals” where “people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire.” “Emerging from the economic rubble is similar to trying to reassemble the fragments of a broken mind to see a true reflection,” he says. We must learn to think, interact and see the connectedness of all things that are significant in new and different ways. Before we can re-think and redesign, though, we must see things differently: “If you want what you do not have, you must be prepared to do what you have not done!” Everything we “see” and “know” is filtered through our internal structures Skipper calls “a shift of mind.” We accept the things that “fit” our preconceived notions of right/wrong, good/bad. Anything that doesn’t fit, we just do not see and accept. Peter Senge reminded us of an old adage; “The eye cannot see the eye.” So, we must learn to see new things. 

There’s no silver bullet to address the challenge of paradox, but the following three tips can help leaders begin the necessary process of personal reinvention. 

1. Personalized development: Work with a human resources executive to develop a personalized development program. Integrating or designing an Emerging Leaders Program can help leaders improve their ability to grapple with paradox. Consider using tools such as Pitts’ Success TRAPS program to help accelerate your and your team’s ability to change. 

2. Expose yourself to new experiences and challenges: Start a “nights and weekend” activity rife with ambiguity. University of Southern California Professor Morgan McCall describes how a manager’s capabilities come from attending “schools of experience.” Helping a family member with a small business, launching a volunteer program at work, or spearheading an activity in the community can be ways to gain exposure to new sets of challenges. 

3. Expose yourself to new inputs and deposits: Consciously complicate your life by brushing up against other disciplines. It’s a long-held view that innovation often occurs when different disciplines intersect. Going to trade shows in unrelated industries, trading jobs for a week with a colleague at a non-competitive company, or even watching an old movie to glean insight for the future can expose leaders to new ways of thinking. 

Albert Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing and expecting different results. Einstein would surely raise his eyebrows at individuals and organizations that ask mono-focused, execution-minded leaders to spearhead reinvention efforts. Leaders need to start the process of personal reinvention soon, or suffer the inevitable consequences that lie ahead. 

Adapted from the works of Scott D. Anthony and Michael Putz

First Published on 6/23/2009 

Scott D. Anthony is President of Innosight LLC, an innovation consulting and investing firm with offices in Baltimore, Boston, Singapore, and India, and the author of The Silver Lining: An Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times (Harvard Business Press, June 2009).  

Michael Putz is Director of Business Development and Strategy for Cisco Systems. He focuses on the leadership challenges of disruptive innovation and sustainable growth.

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