Welcome to IGW Insights Issue 7!
Remember The Focus Equation? It’s how leaders define reality and create an environment for optimal contribution.
In Issue 6 we discussed vision: how leaders create a picture of the ultimate destination and magnetize teammates toward that vision. In this issue, I’d like to focus on the brutal assessment of the current state and how the leader makes his or her organization antifragile.
Not robust, not tough, but antifragile.
I’m typically pretty cynical about people who try to invent new words, but Nassim Taleb had me at hello. His book AntiFragile is some of the best sixteen hours and fourteen minutes of an audiobook I’ve ever engaged with, earning its place next to The Effective Executive as worthy of both rereading and detailed study.
Anyway, here is what Taleb means by “antifragile”, as contrasted with “robust” or “tough”:
A fragile organization gets weaker when the outside world gets more volatile and unpredictable. An antifragile organization, by contrast, gets stronger when the outside world gets more volatile and unpredictable. A robust organization protects its downside risk. An antifragile organization benefits from its downside risk.
Leaders certainly must assess risk and protect the organization’s downside. The best leaders do not stop there but rather work to determine how the volatility he or she is working to preempt represents opportunity. So what does the movie Hellboy have to do with this? Click here to read more.
Recommended Reading and Listening
Antifragile by Nassim Taleb: This book was worth reading and merited a spot on my reread/study list. Not only was it really fun, as Taleb has a way of making complicated ideas digestible and entertaining, but it also challenged how I think about risk. Business owners and leaders of all kinds will get numerous ideas about strengthening their organizations from AntiFragile.
Journaling Exercise
Getting smarter contributes to your ability to lead risk assessment. There are three ways to get smarter: stepping out of our comfort zone to acquire new experiences, getting a better education, and borrowing other people’s brains and experience. Put pen to paper on the following:
- What experiences would make me smarter about my industry?
- What resources (think conferences, newsletters, books, podcasts) could you engage to get smarter about your industry?
- Who on your team or in your network best understands your business, markets, and customers?
Commit to continuous learning in your field. If you’ve never worked on the line in one of your production facilities, get in there and get your hands dirty. If you’ve never been to the premier conference in your industry, get out there and work the trade show floor. If there is someone on your team or in your network who has an area of expertise you need to borrow, warm up that credit card and learn what their favorite Starbucks order is.
Get smarter. You’ll see that “Aw crap” moment much sooner if you do.
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Onward and upward,
Dan Weiss, CEO
