Isn’t our own human nature infuriating – most of us have an innate desire and drive to build for ourselves, over the course of our adult lives, a cocoon of security. This cocoon will be physical, monetary, emotional and psychological and act to protect us – it fulfils the need to “settle down”, “make things comfortable” and create a “safety net” for ourselves, our families and our enterprises – Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in action. At the same time this very layer of protection can make us inflexible, unwilling to change and vulnerable to unpredicted changes in our circumstances and environment. It also effectively kills off the felt “necessity” that is the “mother of invention”. This is not good for innovation.
This observation is, of course, not new - the anthropologists, historians and psychologists have been studying the effects of this cocooning and the subsequent traumatic rebirths on civilisations, institutions and individuals for many hundreds of years (revolutions, paradigm shifts and mid-life crises). So the idea of regularly embracing change and upheaval in order to survive and thrive in difficult times is well known (think Kaizen) and a proven strategy for success – think Apple and Steve Jobs.
Given that this is the case it never ceases to amaze me how many businesses fail to make the big leadership decisions required to invest in innovation and change when hard times arrive. Instead most opt to batten down the hatches, put their heads in the sand and pray, effectively assigning themselves to the waste bin of history. In essence – investing in innovation in a down turn is deeply counter-intuitive and deeply difficult but is nonetheless absolutely essential. Unless an organisation wants to die slowly like the fabled frog in the saucepan of slowly heating water it must find leaders who are prepared to take the necessary risks, challenge the “perceived wisdom” of the cocoon, eschew the desire to retract and retrench and instead spend their efforts and energy on reaching out for the new.
The irony is that most initially gung-ho leaders subscribe to the “succeed or die trying” maxim until the possibility of “dying trying” becomes a very possible outcome at which time the wisdom of the cocoon becomes overwhelming, the expansive rhetoric disappears and the hunker-down actions are mandated. So what are us frail leaders, who hanker after the courage to make the difficult decisions, to do?
Well the only thing I can see from my experience is to practice the art of deliberately and regularly lifting ourselves out of our comfort zones – make a deliberate act to take stock of our own levels of comfort and to ask ourselves if there isn’t some new challenge we can create in our lives. This does of course require great effort and energy and flies in the face of the innate desire to build our comfort cocoons. It does in fact require an almost zen like dedication to personal development and the discomforts of growth. This is far from easy and at my current age I am deeply conscious of the lure of the cocoon but am keen to avoid jumping into it until I’m actually ready to die – after all a cocoon is just a coffin of our own making and in the words of Robbie Williams "I hope I'm old before I die."
So how do innovators tip the odds in Robbie Williams favour? From what I have observed those innovators that still "have it" beyond the age of 30 are those that have practiced the art of pushing themselves, continually. If we can practice this habit when we are not in deeply difficult circumstances we are in with half a chance of being able to successfully perform when our lives, businesses and countries encounter major upheaval. My advice is to get yourself a provocative mentor or coach – not one who will act as a therapist, but one who will push you and not let you rest in your comfort zone. You won’t necessarily enjoy the experience but it might keep you out of the cocoon and closer to the edge for a little while longer.
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