What is more effective than being more efficient with what you are doing?
…be creative, disrupt and lead a new revelation
Wow what I love about the winners of this years Americas cup isnt the fact that they showed great skill, arguably great leadership and teamwork, it was that they looked at the same end goal differently to any other team. It reminded me of Dick Frosby and the introduction of the Frosby flop to the high jump event at the Olympic games in 1968.
What do these events have in common? They stuck to the boundaries of the rules, identified a disruptive pattern that could give them the competitive advantage, then created a plan including many hours of practice and adjusting for peek performance.
In the case of the high jump it was moving from the scissor jump that you maybe familiar with from school to jumping or leaping almost head first backwards over the bar. As for the sailors, well they weren’t sailors. The key skill of most of Team new Zealand was…not sea legs but cycling legs and their ability to power through the sea with leg muscle.
In addition to this the helmsman, Burling, had a ‘secret weapon’ to assist with the fine tuning of the performance in the form of Nick Bowers, a kite surfer and board maker with a keen interest in not just experiencing the water in person but by film. He was the lead, or performance analyst, with the design of drones that could then guide the learning to peek performance.
And these are only the tip of the iceberg. There are many other examples where being creative and more importantly disruptive with opportunities that outstanding results have been achieved. Just like the value of trouble makers that Richard Branson talks about here.
It feels that we can all learn from things outside from our own context. Just like Margaret Heffernan in her TED talk Dare to Disagree. In my experience people are too nervous to get past what they see as the conventional route and the perceived risks to allow true development and innovation to take place.
There is a real connection with sport and business. Not just the numerous books and consultancy business’ but the ability to see in one scenario how winning teams work effectively together or how leaders show relevant leadership.
Being disruptive has its benefits for which we can all see. It feels like our beliefs and values and the very context in which we are working that are restricting doing what we believe is right for short term gains.
Three things to consider when applying disruption
- Create — Doing what you have always done ‘more efficiently’ doens’t give the results you are really dreaming of. As Einstein would say ‘insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’. Be creative and work with people you don’t normally to get a different perspective.
- Disrupt — do as Richard Branson says “Troublemaking doesn’t mean making problems for the sake of it. It means challenging the status quo and succeeding. It means seeing things differently, and acting upon it. It means causing trouble to create positive change.”
- Be the lead — take the plunge to do what is possible and create a new opening in a market or create a new one. Take the lead. Being unconventional reaps the rewards.
When did you last think of a great idea that would make a difference?
And more importantly when did you take the plunge to challenge the status quo and go for it?
