Story:
Disrupting paradigms
Eric, I would suggest you to invite selected students from high school and from early years on college to express what “job” do mean to them. They will certainly present a different point-of-view from what we and our HR people have. And they are the “clients” for the jobs we intend to create. Let’s hear the clients’ voice, then.
- Log in to post comments
Hi Miguel:
Interesting perspective on solving complex problems. What is your suggestion regarding trying to solve a complex issue such as job creation, when collaborative efforts across our economy's sectors is implemented--who would qualify as that independent voice with a "bigger window" as you mentioned? Eric Schillinger
- Log in to post comments
Basic idea here is a good one. We are all prisoners of our paradigms, and hostages to our beliefs. A diverse set of perspectives is key to finding breakout solutions. This is why, for example, the Gates Foundation is directing more and more of its grant money to relatively young researchers.
I would encourage you, Miguel, to develop a full-fledged "hack" around this idea. How could a company bring new perspectives into every key decision-making or problem-solving effort? One suggest, make sure you overweight the team with (a) young people--who have less to unlearn; (b) people who have experience in other industries--vs 20-year veterans; (c) people who work a long ways away from HQ; and (d) people who have differing areas of expertise.
- Log in to post comments
I'm a huge fan of the "fresh eyes" theory of work. The business world is so in awe of the experience curve (the more you do something--whether it's make circuit boards or develop tv shows) the better you get at it. Given the speed and nature of change today, I think we also need to cultivate the "inexperience curve"--the more we do something, the more we have to figure out ways to question and challenge and drop our habits and assumptions about how things work. It's a true leadership discipline to see the world with fresh eyes every day. Your colleague seems to have figured out a great way. One of my favorite maverick leaders, Dan Wieden (cofounder of Wieden + Kennedy advertising and the guy who literally wrote the words "Just do it") is a master at his craft, but he says that his real job as a leader is to "walk in stupid" every morning. By that he means, something has changed overnight (whatever business you're in, whatever your role is), and it's your job to be awake to that change, to not be so stuck in your own mold that you don't see what's going on around you. To that end, he and his peers have crafted WK as a place that invites the "subversive" in, with a whole menu of programs (from an artist-in-residence, to a progressive school, to an edgy lecture series, to turning the lobby into a public space and ticketing/info center for the arts in Portland, Ore).
I would love to know how your colleague has systematized this "disruption" inside the company. Could you or he flesh out a bit how this has really changed working life, how decisions are made, how strategy gets set?
- Log in to post comments
- Log in to post comments
You need to register in order to submit a comment.