The Leadership Quandry - initial thoughts for a future talk

The more and more I think about it, the more skeptical I get of leadership as a construct.  I think as a civilization we're missing something, really really big.  I know, audacious for relative nobody on the matter to say.  But, I'll probably convince anyone who is reading this blog (if not totally, at least an uncomfortably large amount) over the course of time - that we should stop focusing on leadership as a core emphasis of organization or at least radically rethink what leadership is and what its value is.  (Teaser: leadership is not nearly as interesting or useful as we thought it was - rather, it's a distraction).

I'm due to write about this on yammer for some colleagues, but I also want to play around with the idea here.  I imagine I'll pitch this to TEDxDetroit in the next year or some other venue, just to see if I'm not crazy.  And, to see what some actual smart people think about this.

Anyway, here's some messing around on what the structure of those remarks might look like:

We need a lot from organizations, that different than what exists today - [describe some fundamental assumptions about what organizations need to be and compare them with how they actually operate].

So, why does this happen?  I'd argue that making Leadership the holy grail has a lot to do with it. - [explain the leadership quandry].  [Also, concede that there could be other reasons, but give reason as to why to focus on this one].

So, you've outlined a big problem, but how do you suggest we run organization if not for leadership structures? -[ Ask the audience, to suspend reality for just a second. Then, explain the paradim shift to "gardening teams"].

Why not just improve the craft of leadership? - [Explain why that's silly and why a paradigm shift is necessary]

[Then, revisit the fundamental needs of organization and show the path that leadership goes down - it's a bad one].

[Admit you don't know have the technology of teaming at your disposal, but give the "all we need to do is scale it, and why can't we?" bit to the audience to give them hope that they won't have to fully suspend disbelief forever].

[explain the difference in the place for leadership and the place for gardening teams in the future - it's probably a shared world].

---

Shoot, a lot of gaps here.  It'll be fun to fill in.  I've gotta make time for this, maybe this summer, after the GMAT.

PS - Unedited, it's late.

Ideas about how ideas get big

I'm starting to have insomnia from time to time, which is probably a bad thing.  Fortunately though, some of my better thinking comes at the edge of sleeping and awake life (if I can remember it the next day).

Yesterday, I was also lucky to have been inspired by Josh Linker (read more about him here) as he was speaking at our office's quarterly all-hands meeting.  Sadly, I had to miss the first 60 minutes of his remarks due to a client call.  He spoke about creativity.  I can't really go into more detail because I really only caught the tail end of his talk (which I'm super bummed about).

Earlier in the day we also had a "Detroit Community Involvement" Panel Discussion.  One of the themes of the discussion was that community involvements begin with just a small moment or conversation that blossoms into something larger (and usually really awesome).

Thinking about ideas and how they get big

Both of these combined got me to thinking about ideas and how they go from "start to awesome"...let's break this down into a process map of sorts:

Pre-idea observations, listening and reflecting -> Idea forms -> Idea has increasing returns and blows up

• Pre-idea observations - this is the step where something brews in your mind, it's a product of what you see, know, hear, do and feel
• Idea forms - this is the really hard step where all those stewing things form into an articulated thought that can be expressed to other people
• Idea blows up - this is the fun part when people build upon your idea and it gets momentum - it "catches legs", if you will

Josh, from what I could gather, was really going deep on the "Idea forms" step - which is really, really important.  It's so hard to get some stuff in your head out onto paper or into a group of people.  He had some awesome tips and stories about it.  Again, he may have discussed other things while I wasn't there, but this is the essence of what I heard while I was.

In our Detroit Community Involvement Panel we kind of had the perspective of "ideas blowing up".  We got a flavor for the awesome things which can happen when people come together around a common cause.

Now, let me get back to the big picture for a second.  It seems to me like there's a BIG jump from an idea forming to it blowing up.  It's almost as if there's a step in the process flow we've forgotten:

Pre-idea observations, listening and reflecting -> Idea forms -> ? -> Idea has increasing returns and blows up

I think there's this often unnoticed step that is really, really crucial in the creative process - I'll call it "launch".  And by this I mean, someone has to get the idea off the ground before it fades away.

The way I figure it, after a great idea or brainstorm there are probably lots of ideas.  And, there are probably many millions of great ideas floating around people's heads across the world.  A non-trivial percentage of those ideas are probably already expressed out loud or even in some document, somewhere - whether it's on a napkin, a whiteboard, or a PowerPoint presentation.

Those ideas never "get legs", I think, because someone has to follow through on them.  Someone has to document them and share them after they are concieved.  Someone has to marshal people, expertise and legitimacy to the idea to get it off the ground.

I liken it to a NASA analogy.  When launching a spacecraft there are two mission controls - one in Florida and one in Houston.  The one in Florida has control of the mission for about 7 seconds and Houston gets it for the rest of the time.  Why?  Because the first 7 seconds (the launch) of a flight are so different and incredibly difficult.  So, so many crazy things can happen.  So, NASA splits the mission into two components (let's set aside all the time and energy required to even put a spacecraft on the launchpad for this discussion) the launch and the flight.

I think the same is true for ideas.  Some ideas (which may be great or not so great) seem to launch themselves without much intervention.  But many ideas seem like they're left on the launch pad - even though they are great, great ideas.

So my learning here is, don't forget about the very deliberate step of "launching" ideas after they are conceived and even loosely articulated.  The only way to send an idea to the moon is to get it off the ground first.  Sometimes that's easy and sometimes that's hard, I think.  Either way, it has to be done.  Sometimes it has to be a very deliberate step in the process.

How to launch an idea

This raises an obvious question - what falls into the discipline of "launching" an idea...how do you do it?  Well, I think there are a couple things to think about:

• Prototype it, fast - I think getting the idea into a share-able format is really important.  More importantly, though, get it share-able as fast as you possibly can.  Don't invest 100 hours, invest 2.  Then share it as fast as you can and improve it as you go.  It's hard to stick to something for 100 hours when you have no momentum to begin with.  Stop at two hours and get some fresh insight, people to help you and some excitement.  Also, once you start sharing it you may realize that you don't really like the idea or could use your time better on something else.  So sharing it quickly can save you 98 hours worth of work on something that you don't even want to pursue.
• Share, but listen more than you speak - So, share the idea.  Obviously.  But, don't forget to listen either.  If you could launch the idea yourself, then why are you talking to other people?  Don't only share or only listen - do both simultaneously.
• Focus - big ideas can get wayyy too big really quickly.  Don't let them buckle under their own weight.  This isn't to say narrow ideas into small boxes which suddenly become irrelevant.  Rather, I mean set boundaries so you can focus your time and resources going deep in a new and interesting way.  Don't irreverently add scope.  Add the right scope and cut the things that don't matter.  Then, grow the idea into something bigger. Go big, but not foolishly.  Be disciplined.

Anyway, these are just some random thoughts on a Saturday morning.  Thanks for entertaining some of my insomniac musings.  Now it's time for some Raisin Bran and some GMAT-ing.

Also - I can't wait to talk about progress to our skills-based volunteerism pilot program (which we're starting to call Grassroots Pro-bono, actually) this idea is starting to catch legs as we speak.  Phase II is going to be legit (thankfully, I think we're clever enough to make it work).

For the city,
Neil

B Series - Conflicting Identities

- Beware, this isn't proofread -

I suspect that this topic will bubble up on many occasions while trying to do this deep introspection.  Again, it's pretty important context setting.

For whatever reason, my identities - physical, emotional, spiritual, social, moral, intellectual, experiences etc. - conflict with each other.  Or, at least they do on the surface.  One of the more difficult things I feel like I do on a daily basis is finding some calm between those warring identities and weaving together a cohesive internal narrative.  Let me try listing some examples:

• Indian and brought up in America, and "white" by upbringing to an extend - but still rooted with relatively traditional values.
• Theistic, but not subscribing to the framework of an organized religion
• I've been bullied and have been in positions where I could bully other if I wanted to.
• Dance, Football, Backcountry Camping, Tennis, Soccer, Weightlifting - all these are favorite athletic pass times
• Fraternity Man (with associated antics) and subscriber to Aristotelian virtue ethics
• Deeply ponderous and reflective but intensely extroverted but also active listener
• Arrogant, but feel uncomfortable taking praise

And many others.  These are pretty surface level, I'd say, but the hint at things which are more deeply rooted, I think.

But, what's the implication of having conflicting identities?

Well, there are real, front-line costs.  It's hard for others to figure you out, and therefore have trust in you.  If you're not predictable, then, how does one have intimate relationships?  It's not impossible just more fleeting.  The other side of this is that it's harder to feel a sense of belonging anywhere.  Everything is shaky, because you never feel comfortable exactly where you are.  You feel like an outsider and an insider at the same time.  "Home" is difficult to discern.

More tactically, if one is all over the map with identities (and identities are heuristics for day-to-day decision making) how does one make decisions with conflicting identities?  First, you do make decisions.  It's just really taxing, it becomes extremely deliberative in one's own head.  There are no shortcuts to making decisions.  There's nothing that feels quite right.  But I suppose that's the case for everyone.

I suppose there are upsides, though.  It becomes easier to move between communities of different people when identities don't lock you into a single paradigm.  It also leaves lots of life as your oyster to be opened.  Among other things.

But, what's the big takeaway here?  I have many conflicting identities (maybe more, or maybe less than I think they are), but so does everyone, probably.  Takeaway number one is that it's okay.  (Wow, I've never said that or thought that - it's okay to be you, snap.  That's probably the first of many realizations over the course of the next year).

Takeaway number two is that you must be you.  With conflicting identities, its possible to try to copy the way others are or do what other people think you should be doing.  That's maybe the worst thing you can do.  That errs you even farther than your true self.  And if you do that, you no longer have any trust in who you are and what you think because you've introduce foreign identities into an already weird mix of thoughts and feelings.  The identities of others is something that you can never measure up to.

This is the third and probably most difficult conclusion - all your identities have to be woven together some way, or some how.  May that's what integrity is - all of you woven into one story that you can explore, deepen and stick to.  That's like, inner peace, if I've ever heard it.

So then the question becomes, how does one find inner peace with his or her identities?  I obviously don't know the answer to that question.  But, that's a good goal.  That's kind of what my equilibrium project is all about - making my conflicting identities, thoughts and feelings play nice together in my brain.

Even though I don't know the answer to the question, I think it's a start to figure out who you are by learning about where you came from - i.e. unpacking your baggage.  And, the long road ahead begins.

B Series - Context

Before I start this "B Series" (B for baggage, naturally) of posts - the aim being deep introspection to understand the emotional and spiritual barriers that exist in my life and expressing it - I feel like I have to do a bit of context setting.

I'm really lucky.  I have parents who love me deeply and family which does the same.  I'm lucky enough to have many friends who aren't like family, they are family.  I have been blessed in many ways by God.  I've been lucky enough to be educated.  I have good health and am fully abled.

Of course, I've had my fair share of difficult and most of my character has been forged from intense pain, sorrow, empathy and struggle.  There are "wounds" that still haven't "healed".  I sometimes don't feel deserving or needing the love and care of others, or whatever.  I'm not entitled to anything - breathing is an enthralling gift and that's enough.

But, I'm lucky.  And with great luck comes ability.  Response-ability, if you will.  And that's where the story begins.

But the fact is, I must always remember that I'm not ever truly alone.  Or that I have everything I need to be happy.  Someday, I'll come to feel that I'm more than just "good enough" - in whatever context that is.  I