Embrace Disruption

Following the systems and habits approach to improvement means that we value consistency. We use it to build future value by designing our thoughts and actions and reinforcing them over time.

When inevitable chaos ensues, which it always does, it can be difficult to maintain that consistent approach. It frustrates us. It causes emotional upheaval.

I am as guilty as anyone of letting the disruption cause setbacks. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can learn to use these times to solidify our approach and refine our resolve.

Some are better than others at this. For some, it is natural. They see change and get excited. Sometimes they shuffle the deck for a change of pace.

Change for the sake of change isn’t ideal. But neither is rigidity. We must be able to evolve. We must be able to get better and that requires change. I would bet that everything great in your life came about from a change first.

While change can be difficult, we must learn to embrace it. We must be willing to shift when required instead of digging in and holding on to something that is no longer there.

When the storms roll through, pull yourself back to see it from 10,000 feet. It will help determine how to respond. Instead of charging forward like a bull, we can flex and adjust like a rabbit running, dodging back and forth.

There were several pivotal moments in my life. All of them were predicated by change. Often massive change was the impetus that drove me to put it all out there and try something new.

How should you handle it when this craziness appears in your life? Stop and detach from the emotional pull to resist. See it from a higher view. Rethink your path and align with what is important to you.

Because if you can find the way through, you may stumble on a better approach. You may learn something that will help you throughout your life.

I still look back at the lessons I learned taking on a project early in my career that started as a disaster.

I was given a project that failed multiple times, leaving the project managers on the chopping block with each failure. But the organization put money into it, and execs put their confidence in its success.

They needed to find the way to succeed or move it to someone else so they didn’t get blamed for its failure. By the time it came to me, everyone wanted to scramble away from it to save their reputation.

Instead of shuttering this change, I embraced it. I was able to have some success and the principles I relied on to turn the project around like simplicity, identification of the core value, doggedly pursing a better strategy, etc. are still useful today.

In almost every project I take on those lessons resound in my head. When I start to build too much complexity, I know to slow it down and strip away the extraneous aspects that don’t provide value in relation to the effort required. I know to always maintain the focus on the value proposition and use strategy to outline the path we take.

While it may be difficult and painful to embrace disruption, it is required if we want to reach our highest potential. We must face the difficult. We must accept the hurt in order to maintain our progress and march towards success. The lessons we learn, the scars and callouses, all transform us to what we must become to be resilient enough to so something special.