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Eight years ago I published a book, The Medici Effect, that examines how and why groundbreaking ideas occur at the intersection of different cultures, industries, and disciplines. The book did quite well — it has been translated into 18 languages at this point, become part of the ongoing innovation dialogue, allowed me to present ideas to executives across the world, and to build a unique consulting firm with clients on six continents. So, not surprisingly, I frequently get asked just how I did it.
In response, I usually tell the following story. Once the book had been written, I had to market it. The obvious targets were people in the field of innovation. But there are a lot of thought-leaders competing for the attention of that audience. Around the same time that my book came out, so did at least another 15 new books on innovation. Just getting noticed in this avalanche of concepts and personalities was a challenge.
One evening, my fiancée (now wife!) came home from her job as a diversity consultant at JP Morgan Chase. On this day, she had just been asked to describe the “business-case for diversity” for her firm. What, they asked her, was the most powerful argument for promoting diversity — outside of ethical and legal ones? As we talked, she realized that the ideas in my book were exactly what she was looking for.
“You say that diverse perspectives drive innovation — whether those diverse perspectives come from different industries, cultures, fields or gender and so on,” my fiancée told me. That, she suggested, was pretty much the most compelling business case for diversity. “I honestly think people would want to hear about it.”
That single conversation changed everything for me. Suddenly, chief diversity officers in corporations around the US started inviting me to speak to their CEOs on how to drive innovation through diversity. The demand for my ideas surged and soon went global. The interest took me completely by surprise.
Then one evening, at a client dinner, a strategy executive sitting next to me leaned over and said, “Your side-door strategy has been nothing short of brilliant.” I honestly had no idea what he was talking about and had to ask him what he meant. “Well,” he said, “instead of going directly to chief innovation officers, heads of strategy or R&D folks, you targeted chief diversity officers,” he told me. “And through them you got to people like me.” He was dead serious. “Your strategy,” he said, “was to knock on the one door that other innovation thinkers did not.”
A side-door strategy, I thought. It even had a name. To an outsider this must, indeed, have seemed like a brilliant approach. I knew better, of course. I would be hard-pressed to call my side-door strategy anything but plain luck. What had seemed like a brilliant strategy was actually a moment of serendipity.
This realization soon led to another question. What if this was the case everywhere? What if all of the well-planned and well-executed “strategies” people have told us about are really the result of unplanned meetings and encounters, random moments and events, serendipity and plain luck? What if success or failure is just one unexpected moment away?
Sure enough, serendipity often is the story. Our mind abhors these serendipitous explanations, and searches for convenient patterns instead. Ask for the keys to career success and you’ll get logical explanations, recommendations, pathways and approaches. Then ask someone how he or she became successful and suddenly it becomes a story of serendipitous encounters, unexpected changes in plans, and random consequences. It does not make sense to ignore this basic fact about success any longer.
Be open to serendipity, in your organization and in your life. You can take steps to increase the chances of it, too. For instance, bring together people from outside your organization, or between siloed departments or between different countries or cultures. These interactions will help you find unexpected insights and opportunities — those that others might not have logically figured out. Take statistical advantage of these random moments by placing as many purposeful bets you can afford while not becoming distracted.
Your organization, career, even life can change in a single moment. Make sure to seize it.
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How do we fix the problems of properly measuring, allocating resources to, and compensating people for driving growth? Here are two ideas: First, companies should move beyond looking simply at market share, and instead focus on “share of growth” as the key metric when driving a business forward. Second, companies should find ways to exponentially reward leaders who drive share of growth.
Adding share of growth as a KPI solves for three drawbacks to market share.
The definition of “market” is likely outdated. Market share definitions are rarely updated, and the reality is many markets are blurring due to disruptive innovation. The basis of competition is now category versus category, as opposed to brand versus brand.
Market share is inherently backward looking. This is where a forward-looking share of growth is more valuable. Consider the market for single-serve coffee pods, such as those made by Keurig. If you looked at share of growth, you could have predicted the national scale of single serve about eight years earlier than when it actually occurred. Share of growth tells you where a market is going, not where it’s been.
Market share engenders less helpful emotions than share of growth. Share of market tends to create a static worldview where those with high market share are at risk of overconfidence, whereas those with low market share are at risk of fatalistic despair in their decision making. Share of growth creates curiosity. Leaders ask: “Why is this segment growing so fast, and what can I do about it?”
The data suggests that brands with higher share of growth than share of market exist across brands of all sizes, with a particular sweet spot for brands between $100 million and $1 billion in sales. How much more growth could be created if fuel was added to these already growing fires?
Ultimately, one of the downsides of adding share of growth is that it’s not a straightforward metric. It requires careful consideration, especially if you’re going to measure and reward executives based on it. However, adding a bit of complexity and chaos to a crusty KPI like market share may be exactly what is necessary for executives to dig deeper to find growth.
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Communication is one of the keys to employee engagement—a pilot study found “a significant and positive association” between communication and engagement, with “organizational” communication spurring a 23 percent improvement, while “supervisor” communication saw a 32 percent improvement in engagement.
Engagement through communication will help improve your organization’s productivity. “When crucial information isn’t flowing between departments, these silos crush productivity and ultimately stifle growth,” says David Hassell, founder of 15Five.
Intentional communication is strategic communication you use to reinforce purpose. When it comes to communicating with intent, don’t use just any old words. Your words must inspire action, invoke thought, and encourage participation.
This isn’t a subject localized to today’s business world — Aristotle studied it over 2,000 years ago, then he taught Alexander the Great how to lead. To figure out how best to be intentional, start with Aristotle’s three elements of great communication.
Ethos
Ethos is about building trust. When employees trust you, they trust you mean what you say, and they trust the substance of your words.
Pathos
Pathos, from which the words empathy and sympathy get their root, is about showing you care. No one will want to listen to you if they feel you’re not listening to them.
Logos
Logos is about using sense and logic to convince people your intent is valid. It encapsulates the more technical aspect of effective communication. You must speak clearly and cogently, ordering your thoughts and making points people can understand.
Now that you know what to do, know what not to do. Sujan Patel’s seven deadly sins of communication are important for any leader—not just managers—to avoid.
- Don’t focus on weaknesses when you’re giving feedback, it causes employees to be actively disengaged
- Pathos requires you to consider employees’ professional development—if you don’t, they may be motivated to seek employment elsewhere
- Don’t hesitate to talk with employees about their everyday work-life
- Don’t micromanage when you’re talking to them about work
- This should go without saying, but when you’re sympathizing with employees, don’t be negative with your own outlook
- Don’t mask feedback behind passive-aggressive speech — take responsibility
- Don’t wall yourself off — be open to employee chat and feedback
Consider the following methods of opening up communication channels.
- Make yourself available to talk as often as possible and respond to employee messages as quickly as possible.
- Host meetings where people can get to know each other better and ask questions in a relaxed yet professional setting.
- People should be able to voice their complaints without worrying about adverse consequences.
- Millennials are used to communicating via social media, and it has been very easy for many people in older generations to adapt.
- Sometimes, communication style from executives and managers can be confusing and insensitive to employees with diverse backgrounds. When you address the whole team, don’t use jargon and slang some might not be familiar with. Conduct a survey on employees’ preferred communication channel. Make informal meetings optional, and give introverted employees the option to express themselves through social media, email, and satisfaction surveys.
- There’s no reason to be cryptic.
- Don’t set up artificial barriers between departments; encourage people to communicate important information with each other.
Finally, put a premium on communicating when it is most necessary. Being open and intentional does not mean inundating anyone with emails that become background noise. Be strategic with your words, and open yourself up to what your team has to say.
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Here are some inspiring books to read:
1. Elon Musk: Tesla SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
In this book, veteran technology journalist Ashlee Vance provides the first inside look into the extraordinary life and times of Silicon Valley’s most audacious entrepreneur. Written with exclusive access to Musk, his family and friends, the book traces the entrepreneur’s journey from a rough upbringing in South Africa to the pinnacle of the global business world.
Vance spent over 40 hours in conversation with Musk and interviewed close to 300 people to tell the tumultuous stories of Musk’s world-changing companies: PayPal, Tesla Motors, SpaceX and SolarCity, and to characterize a man who has renewed American industry and sparked new levels of innovation while making plenty of enemies along the way.
My key lessons from this book are the three vital ingredients that all successful people have. An appetite for hard work, passion and a higher purpose that is not about money. It’s what you need if you want to change to world or make a dent in the universe.
Sorry…I forgot one other lesson. Dare to dream big.
2. The One Thing
This inspirational book by Gary Keller reveals the power of focusing on your “one thing”. His New York Times bestselling books have sold more than 2 million copies.
He also reveals the “One” thing that made Keller Williams Realty, Inc., one of the largest real estate companies in the world. What was that? It was writing a book that positioned him and his company as the authority in real estate in the USA.
In The ONE Thing, you’ll also learn productivity tips such as:
- Cut through the clutter
- Achieve better results in less time
- Build momentum toward your goal
- Dial down the stress
3. Steal like an an Artist
Creativity and genius is sometimes thought of as being that one insight or flash of inspiration that appears from nowhere. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In this this very insightful book by Austin Kleon explains that you don’t need to be a genius, you just need to be yourself.
That’s the message from Austin, a young writer and artist who knows that creativity is everywhere, creativity is for everyone. A manifesto for the digital age, Steal Like an Artist is a guide whose positive message, graphic look and illustrations, exercises, and examples will put readers directly in touch with their artistic side.
4. Now, Discover Your Strengths
The biggest challenge for all of us is discovering what your mission on this planet is. That is often the journey of a lifetime.
It also means working on your strengths but many of us don’t know what they are.
Or how to find them.
Unfortunately, most of us have little sense of our talents and strengths, much less the ability to build our lives around them. Instead, guided by our parents, by our teachers, by our managers, and by psychology’s fascination with pathology, we become experts in our weaknesses and spend our lives trying to repair these flaws, while our strengths lie dormant and neglected.
Marcus Buckingham, (who was also coauthor of the national bestseller First, Break All the Rules), and Donald O. Clifton, have created a revolutionary program to help readers identify their talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy consistent, near-perfect performance. At the heart of the book is the Internet-based StrengthsFinder Profile, the product of a 25-year, multimillion-dollar effort to identify the most prevalent human strengths.
This book comes with free access to the web based “Strength Finder Test” that you will find very revealing. I know I did.
5. The Lean Startup: How Relentless Change Creates Radically Successful Businesses
The digital age has turned almost every aspect of our world on its head. This extends to our personal lives and how we do business.
Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs – in companies of all sizes – a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before it’s too late. The author Eric Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in an age when companies need to innovate more than ever.
I found this a great book to challenge my thinking and grow my business.
6. Insanely Simple: The Obsession that Drives Apple’s Success
This book by Ken Seagall caught my attention after reading Steve Jobs’ biography by Walter Isaacson while travelling by train through Italy. After that 630 page exposure to the mind of a genius, I became a bit of a Steve Jobs fanboy. So finding out more about the person that has redefined our world was tempting.
To Steve Jobs, simplicity was a religion. It was also a weapon. Simplicity isn’t just a design principle at Apple—it’s a value that permeates every level of the organization. The obsession with simplicity is what separates Apple from other technology companies. It’s what helped Apple recover from near death in 1997 to become the most valuable company on Earth in 2011.
What does this book cover?
- Think Minimal: Distilling choices to a minimum brings clarity to a company and its customers—as Jobs proved when he replaced over twenty product models with a lineup of four.
- Think Small: Swearing allegiance to the concept of “small groups of smart people” raises both morale and productivity.
- Think Motion: Keeping project teams in constant motion focuses creative thinking on well-defined goals and minimizes distractions.
- Think Iconic: Using a simple, powerful image to symbolize the benefit of a product or idea creates a deeper impression in the minds of customers.
7. Do the Work
This short but powerful and inspiring book by Steven Pressfield was revealing about a problem that many of us have. Having a lot of great ideas but not doing the work. This book led to me adopting the Mantra “Done is better than perfect”.
It also helps answer questions such as:
- Could you be getting in your way of producing great work?
- Have you started a project but never finished?
- Would you like to do work that matters, but don’t know where to start?
- So the answer is Do the Work, a manifesto by bestselling author Steven Pressfield, that will show you that it’s not about better ideas, it’s about actually doing the work. Do the Work is a weapon against Resistance – a tool that will help you take action and successfully ship projects out the door.
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