How You Feel About Disruption Depends On This

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People don’t like disruption.

People don’t like change.

If you’re like most people (and most people are), you’re nodding your head and saying, “Boy, you got that right, Bill! That’s so true!”

Is it, though?

I think it depends on which side of the equation you’re on.

Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter wrote, “Change is a threat when done to me, but an opportunity when done by me.”

The same thing can be said for disruption.

We only dislike disruption when we’re on the receiving ...

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Feeling A Little Uncertainty? Good!

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Quick: What single word do you think best sums up the zeitgeist of today?

I think a good case could be made for the word “uncertainty.”

We’re all feeling it, to one degree or another. Uncertainty about the economy, uncertainty about U.S. democracy, uncertainty about global conflicts. There’s plenty of uncertainty to go around.

Bottom line: we don’t know what the future will bring. And how do you prepare for that?

You prepare for it by learning how to innovate.

When you have the ability ...

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Why Your Innovation Initiative Doesn’t Last

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Have you ever tried to implement an innovative change (with your team, perhaps?), only to find that things gradually regress to the way they were before? Maybe the problem is that you're declaring victory too early.

If you're a video person, I lay it all out in the video below. If reading is more your thing, skip the video and hop straight to ...

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Why the Richest Man in the World Might Hate Your Ideas

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There’s this company based not too far from me in downtown Seattle that routinely makes the Top 10 lists of Most Innovative Companies. You might have heard of it.

It’s called Amazon.

Amazon is run by the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos. Bezos took the crown away from the previous richest man, Bill Gates (who also lives relatively close to me, albeit in a slightly more upscale neighborhood).

So Jeff Bezos is one ...

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The Big Choice That You Need To Make Now!

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You have a choice.

Right now.

You have a choice over how you will spend this unique moment in history.

Right now, most of us are in some version of a quarantine, self-isolation, or stay-at-home mandate. Like me, you have a choice over what you will do with this extraordinary block of time. And your choice is this:

Will you shut down, or will you ramp up?

You can use this unique moment in history as an opportunity to relax, chill out, and binge watch ...

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In a Time of Crisis, You Need Innovation!

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There’s a good chance that the coronavirus — COVID-19 — is disrupting your business and your life. It’s certainly disrupting mine. As a keynote speaker on innovation, I work in the meetings industry. In other words, I work in an industry that is predicated on large numbers of people gathering together in a single place. And we all know how that’s going right now.

The disruption might be different in your world. Perhaps you’ve been affected by supply chain issues. If ...

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Change One Thing To Produce Better Results Under Pressure

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John Hypothetical has a big exam coming up, and there’s a lot riding on the outcome. He prepares well for the exam, but he’s understandably nervous. When the big day arrives, he can feel his heart beating fast. Despite all his preparation, John chokes.

Emily Imaginary has the same big exam coming up, with the same consequences riding on the outcome. She also prepares well and is also understandably nervous. When the big day arrives, she can feel her heart beating ...

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How To Be Better At Leading Change

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70% of all change initiatives fail.

That’s a pretty startling statistic. Especially when you consider how important change is. I mean, we all acknowledge this, right? There aren’t many organizations out there saying, “You know what we need to do? We need to maintain the status quo, and we need to do it now!”

Every breakthrough involves change. Every innovation involves change. Every new product, policy, or service that moves you ahead of the competition involves change.

So change is vitally important—and yet ...

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How To Move From Pathetic Pretender To Powerful Producer

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Producing great results consistently is hard. Producing great results consistently—and under pressure—is harder. It takes a great deal of confidence to pull it off successfully.

But confidence, it turns out, is only half of the equation.

In a previous article, I talked about the importance of confidence when producing under pressure. And it’s true. Confidence is a vital attribute when you’re leading a team (even if that team has only one member—you) through a high-pressure situation.

Confidence, however, is no guarantee of ...

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