Forget Crisis Management! Creating Crises Intentionally Is What Empowers Breakthrough Growth

In an interview with Lisa Urbanski, she and I explored crises and uncertainty in the workplace. She wanted to understand how disruption, chaos and crisis can impact people. Instead of taking the usual view of crisis, we explored how it can be the catalyst for neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is what happens when the brain is forced to grow new neural pathways. Those new pathways can increase intelligence and expand one’s view of the world and self. Throughout the interview, she and I uncovered case studies where businesses penetrated untapped markets and experienced exponential revenue growth. The point of the discussion was to see that business as usual is not the path to breakthroughs. Instead, asking people to do things that can initially appear uncomfortable is a more empowering strategy. That temporary discomfort transforms culture, develops new skills and competencies in staff and management and can gives the organization a competitive advantage in the marketplace. While that path may sound attractive to most, the training needed requires people to become comfortable with manufactured chaos, disruption or crisis. As people master self in the face of problems, the individual and enterprise becomes more nimble and capable of navigating unforeseen disruptions that occur from the economy, geopolitical changes or black swans.

Should Extreme Adversity Be Part of Leadership Training When Preparing for an Environment of Constant Change?

In an interview with Sue Firth, she and I discussed how adversity at a young age can prepare a person for leadership. While adversity can appear to be detrimental to a young person’s development, it can also prepare them for the challenges life throws at them. In Malcom Gladwell’s book, David and Goliath, he writes about how being dyslexic can prepare a person to work with people smarter than themselves. Gladwell noted that some dyslexic children learned to delegate homework to the smartest child in their class. Or they organized meetings with the smartest kids in different subjects. In another part of the book, Gladwell talked about the person who lost a parent around the age of 20. He noted that person developed the capacity to take over and lead in the face of crisis. This person developed a mindset that allowed them to function effectively when running a business that was experiencing chaos. As the interview continued, Sue discovered how personal life events can also negatively impact workplace productivity. Throughout the interview, it is noted that training people to navigate unforeseen changes can drive innovation and foster an environment where breakthroughs are created intentionally.