Set Up for Success
In a world where change is the only constant, being “set up for success” can seem fleeting if not untenable. The moment we think, “I’ve got this!” the ground shifts underneath our feet and suddenly the landscape is, yet again, unfamiliar. Sometimes shifts are slow and subtle, and if we’re not careful, we can fail to notice the change altogether. In the companies I work with, I’ve seen slow and subtle shifts in mindsets, conversations, relationships, and results. At other times, the shifts are jolting: one day we have things under control, the next day chaos ensues; one day we engender enormous trust, the next day we’re facing a firestorm of indignant customers. In this context of shifting landscapes, there has been a surge in efforts to increase individual and corporate adaptability, resilience, and learning. And while our ability to adapt to change, to be resilient, and to continuously learn will certainly benefit us, I see these efforts falling fall short of successful. And so I wonder…what more does it take for us to “set up for success”? I’d like to suggest that we – as individuals and as companies – must look one level deeper in our psyche. Being “set up for success” at each unforeseen twist, turn, and straightaway requires continuously learning to learn. It requires awareness that how I learned yesterday is insufficient for the demands of tomorrow. Being set up for success requires adaptability, resilience and learning in the domain of learning – learning to learn in new ways simply because you sense that tomorrow’s challenges will require something that you can’t fully anticipate. Want a serious challenge? Don’t just learn something new, and don’t simply just how to learn something new: Learn how to learn something new differently. Need a starting point? Here are a few tips:
Start with self-awareness. How do you currently learn?
Get specific: Set your sights on something you’d like to do differently.
Borrow or improvise: Ask someone with a very different approach to learning to map out a learning plan for you; or make a commitment to make up a new approach as you go…just be careful not to fall back into your typical learning patterns.
