Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Stop thinking you're a machine. Create something

Nothing. That's what a senior manager in my organization said his group was working on during a high level meeting with other senior managers and executives. His group was working on nothing. People are speculating that he was trying to point out that our pipeline of new product ideas is a little dry. It doesn't matter if he was just being frank or trying to make a point. He willingly stood up in front of other leaders and confessed that his people are waiting around for somebody else to tell them what to do. He could have brought forward a list of proposals that his team has developed. He could have discussed research into some aspect of a formulation that could dramatically improve the quality of our products. He could have described work being done with other organizations to resolve some long standing problem. Nope. We're working on nothing.

That response makes R&D look like the flashing cursor on a computer monitor. Just sitting there, waiting for input. Waiting for instructions. Tell us what to do. Give us something to work on. Why should we put these kinds of limits on our potential? Rather than exploring our boundaries and finding new ways to broaden our capabilities, we're plotting ways to make other parts of the organization look bad. We're not machines. We're capable of doing more than merely executing instructions.
  

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Linear or Non-linear

The linear favors the predictable, orderly, and routine. Get a feel for how a linear system works today, and you can be reasonably sure that the system will work the same way tomorrow. Linear systems follow well-defined rules. A certain level of input yields a predictable level of output.

The nonlinear is harder to predict. What works well today won't work all that well tomorrow. It's harder to predict how much a certain input is going to change the system. Interactions between different elements of a system are harder to predict. Determining which aspect of the nonlinear will be the most important is more of a guess than an informed prediction.

The linear is easy to bureaucratize. Develop a procedure, put in place a few rules, determine how much stuff you want to come out of the end, and press the start button. The system reigns supreme. People are only needed to hold off entropy.

The nonlinear is immune to regimentation. Constant intervention is required to ensure that input becomes output. Systems exist to support individuals. There is no system without experts to improvise a process for a constantly changing sea of variables.

The linear is easy to ship overseas. The nonlinear will stay with the experts. The linear gets by with managers. The nonlinear must be led. The linear is easy to teach. Put the information in a book or two, design a training course, inculcate the masses. The essence of the nonlinear defies simply expression as a sentence or a code. It's nebulous and shifting. The nonlinear requires active participation and experience.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The Essence of Non-Conformity

Being non-conformist does not require you to quit your day job to travel the world, live a minimalist lifestyle, or take up meditation. You can work for a giant corporation, have a wife and kids, and live in the suburbs. Lifestyle alone does not determine whether or not you're a conformist. A non-conformist simply rejects the notion that our options are limited. Life is not a multiple choice test. We are all free to create our own best way to get through life. We are not required to follow a prescribed path.

Being a non-conformist does not require that you reject society or traditional values. You stop conforming when you stop expecting that meeting other people's expectations will make you happy. A non-conformist takes responsibility for their own well-being. As soon as you recognize that you're the only person who can determine what kind of life will make you happy, you stop accepting the assumptions that we are all socialized to adopt and start seeking your own path. You stop trying to decide which pre-packaged choice looks best and start searching for a way to make your vision a reality.

"I'm doing everything right, but I can't get that promotion / find the love of my life / find my true passion" is the refrain of the conformist. The conformist pursues a marketed image of the good life and feels betrayed when that life lets them down. They pick an idea of who they are and what they should be and never deviate from that ideal. I was a tremendous conformist in high school. I had an idea of the kind of person I should be and put all my energy into making sure I never deviated from that course. I never tried somebody new. I was miserable.

I was a conformist when I explored leaving my current position for something new up in Boston. I was looking for an organization that I could fit into rather than making my organization fit me. Passive acceptance of the status quo defines conformity. Efforts to create something better, something that resonates with your purpose and meaning require going against the grain, breaking some rules, and defying expectations. Just fitting in will never make you happy.