Kill Your Status Quo Before It Kills You
Humanity has witnessed eight major economic revolutions over the last 8,000 years. With each, our world shifted profoundly, creating a lasting ripple effect that still exists today thousands of years later.
The first revolution happened when we moved from hunting and gathering to farming and domesticating animals. Finally, we had a measure of control over our food sources. The next happened with the invention of the printing press. Suddenly, knowledge could be readily shared. This led to the Renaissance period and the beginning of modern-day science. Industrial, energy, computer, internet, and connected revolutions all followed, dramatically altering how we live, work, interact and prosper.
However, today we find ourselves in an economic revolution like none before. This one is driven by disruption. The confluence of capital, technology, and the willingness to break with all traditional thinking is transforming every aspect of our world right before our eyes.
But what’s different this time? According to McKinsey & Co., change is happening ten times faster in the Disruption Revolution, at 300 times the scale and roughly 3,000 times the impact. From manufacturing to media, finance to farming, and technology to taxi cabs, every industry feels the Impact, and no one is immune. Even scale doesn’t provide security. Deloitte attributed 26% of the recent turnover in the Fortune 500 to the Disruption Revolution. Perhaps the most alarming statistic of all: 70% of CEOs interviewed by Deloitte felt their organisation wasn’t prepared for the magnitude of the changes occurring.
In years past, incremental improvement, marginal increases and slight innovations were enough. Today, those who cling to this legacy thinking put themselves and their organisation in harm’s way. Simply put, getting our people to change more readily, adapt more quickly and open their mind’s to constantly innovating is not a nicety; it is a competitive necessity.
In the Disruption Revolution, the mantra for success is: Kill your status quo before it kills you.
While this may seem daunting, it will also be the most liberating thing you have ever experienced. Individuals and organisations fail to recognise the status quo’s weight, drag, time and energy-sucking effect. It all too frequently depowers, demotivates and disengages all that it touches.
So, the billion-dollar question: How do you escape the tyranny of the status quo?
You must become a disrupter rather than a victim of the disruption. Specifically, you must foster disruption in five meaningful and significant areas:
1. You must disrupt the litany of excuses, blame and rationalisation that is the hallmark of every stalled career, team or organisation
Far too many people are ruled by a victim’s thought process, that allows them to feel that everything is out of their control and there is nothing they can do. By definition, victims never win. Only by fostering a thought process that is firmly rooted in accountability and ownership will you ever break the status quo and lay the foundation for success. As Benjamin Franklin was credited with saying, “Those that are good at making excuses are seldom good for anything else.”
2. You must disrupt the close-minded, dogged determination to cling to the past
Individuals and organisations cannot ignore feedback and stay firmly rooted in the “way we have always done things.” Yes, change brings uncertainty and, with it, a sense of perceived risk. But the risk of doing nothing is far greater than the risk of doing something. To make a shift in this regard, you must foster a thought process rooted in adaptability. Only by focusing on this area will you get individuals, teams, and organizations to become truly reflective and mindful. Charles Darwin said, “It is not the strongest or the smallest that survives, it is the one that is most adaptable to change.”
3. You must disrupt the willingness to give up early and often
There are things that provide instant gratification, like fast food and candy, but success takes hard work, dedication, and persistence. Negativity and the belief that everything should come easily and without effort is the one commonality in every failed endeavour. Fostering a thought process rooted in resilience is key. Resilient people willingly pay the dues, practice enough and stand up and fight through adversity and challenges. Like Margaret Thatcher said, “You have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”
4. You must disrupt the reactive, fire-fighting nature of how most people spend their days.
Certainly, there is no shortage of distractions, problems and issues to consume one’s waking hours. However, running on the never-ending treadmill of reactivity only assures that a person dies tired. We must foster a willingness to take initiative toward a meaningful vision and goals. You can’t stop somebody on a mission. However, the mission must be something greater than just getting through the day.
5. You must disrupt the ever-present fear that rides on most people’s actions:
The fear of making a mistake, being judged, looking foolish or being yelled at for doing something different or new frequently consumes a person’s desire and motivation. Those who never try are guaranteed to be forever heralded in the halls of mediocrity. You must foster a thought process rooted in courage. People who believe that there are only two possible outcomes (winning or learning) can escape fear and realise the true benefit of everything they do. In the words of Anne Frank, “Those who have courage will never perish in misery.”
There has never been a better time to kill your status quo. Letting go of limiting legacy thinking is the key. Look at yourself, your people, your team, or your organisation differently. Disruption is all around you. Failing to acknowledge it puts you in peril.
The choice is yours: You can be steamrolled by your status quo, or you can shift the thought process to drive greater accountability, adaptability, resilience, initiative, and courage. I’m confident you’ll make the right choice.
You can download the article here: Kill Your Status Quo Before It Kills You
James and Enas Fleming
The Power Within Training
The Motivational Intelligence Company
