Reading Obliquity by John Kay at the moment. It's all about why our goals are best achieved indirectly. What has been particularly compelling so far is the fact that people, who seek happiness and those who seek to make their business profitable, often do so in oblique ways. They actually like the pain, hardship and endurance required to climb a mountain or to secure the deal - it's part of the journey. It may seem a strange way to achieve, but the achievement then is somehow at a much greater level.
So... got thinking about what's happening with people who seem to do things obliquely:
==>Think Differently - now that's a phrase seen all over the place. It facilitates an unusual approach to a problem. We all know that "if you do what you've always done - you get what you've always got!" Look at the working practices of What If Innovation? They dare companies to be different and their values of impact, audacity, passion, love and adventure enables them to do - how many times have you seen those words on a company mission statement?
==>Rewrite the Rules - Sauder Business School, University of British Columbia, is doing just that. Challenging the concept of business and leadership as it's stood so far. Posing questions to get us all thinking, such as - If you were to rewrite the rules of business what would they be? Trust me it's worth following. It's that attitude that's just placed them 57th in the world by the Financial Times Global MBA 2013 rankings, a rise of 25 places!
==>Working environments are now also requiring a shift in paradigm - computers can now be placed on treadmill desks, merging fitness and working. Some companies have removed the boardroom style table and chairs from the equation and meetings now take place standing up. Working environments are being designed to promote creative working. We're now in the third age of virtual working and this too has distinct benefits for creating alternative ways of working. People are networking in spaces not originally associated with work, such as coffee shops. Another example is the Google Campus in London, providing a free unique co-working space. Anywhere that creative minds can gather and make disparate connections for the challenges they are addressing is good news - as this is a powerful and effective means for coming up with solutions, minus siloed thinking.
Challenging the status quo, be that in the business, leadership and management arena, or in any other for that matter, requires an alternative approach - and the skill of being brave enough to go for it. This bravery is essential, because the days of 'failure is not an option' are over - failure is vital to creativity and innovation, as is NOT doing things the way they've always been done.
Strangely, if you happen to think that way, you often get labelled as one of the krazy ones - so stand up and be proud of this. It's not a limitation - it's actually one of your biggest strengths!!! If in doubt, just watch this:
So Go Crazy - it's actually OK to do so!