“The best way to predict the future is to invent it” — Alan Kay
How many times have you tried to fit a square peg into a round hole?
Whether it’s squeezing a prepared answer to a fit an interview question, or forcing a certain outcome resulting in the opposite. We’ve all done it at some point. That outfit you like so much that doesn’t suit your body type? Yup.
Reinvention is no different. Considered, executed action trumps brute force.
Earlier I explored the importance of understanding your whys and how fear stops reinvention in its tracks. If inaction or incorrect action is a main reason that businesses and people fail:
How do you facilitate successful reinvention?
1. Identify and amplify your strengths
Focus on strengths facilitates the creation of a niche; a distinct set of capabilities that uniquely generate value. Working to your strengths makes reinvention more enjoyable, boosts engagement and shapes courses of action taken, increasing your chances of success.
There are many strength identifying tests out there such as VIA or StrengthsFinder, but here are two ‘non-test’ methods:
Self-reflection and feedback
What examples in life prove/disprove this? Do a short behavioural interview with yourself. Things you can ask include:
What are my strongest personal attributes?
What activities do I enjoy, get immersed in and excel at?
What indispensable knowledge do I have and how has this benefited me?
- To validate your initial self-diagnosis, select a diverse pool of 10–20 people of friends, family, colleagues and mentors. Ask them of when they think you’ve done strength ‘x’ well and why. If their view of your strengths is misaligned, ask them what they think your strengths are.
Build-measure-learn loop:
- Popularised by The Lean Startup methodology, the build-measure-learn process can be used explore and test your strengths. Are your identified strengths real strengths? If you’ve identified your whys and know of at least 1 action which you can take, test it.
For me, my initial test is Reintention. I am gradually exploring measures to evaluate (eg. Do people read my blog? One measure: costs per click or shares on social media) and what I’ve learned (eg. coding a website). Time box your test(s) to evaluate findings and see where you need to adjust.
What about weaknesses? Find ways to eliminate or automate what you aren’t strong at. This way, your time is dedicated at what you do excel and create most value in. I started by hiring a virtual assistant (VA) where I can get simple, time exhaustive tasks done at a low cost.
2. FOCUS on goals
Finance guru Robert Kiyosaki coined the acronym FOCUS as “Follow(ing) one course of action until successful”. While I am all for setting Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG); goal setting is a balanced blend of challenge vs actionable steps.
Optimal performance occurs when a challenge is 4% greater than our skills. Simply, things too easy bore us and things too difficult breeds anxiety. Setting the right level of challenge in goals will keep you motivated, interested and more likely to achieve them .
Also, quantity ≠ quality. Less is more. If you’re a goal setting noob or find it difficult to stick to goals with a clear vision, start with less. You can always ramp up later. Make goals SMART and break them down into bite size pieces.
Start off messily on paper and write as many things as possible you want to achieve. Hone in on specific goals and use tools like Trello, Asana or GoalsonTrack to review and evaluate regularly; weekly, monthly, quarterly, depending on the size and context of your goal.
Try different mediums and see what works for you. I have my goals on paper, electronically and visually on a whiteboard at home.
Don’t let goals stay static. If you’ve achieved some of your earlier milestones or things change during the course of time, adjust your goals at different check points.
An example of one of my personal goals shaped as below:
Increase flexibility — Able to do the splits — both front and sides
- Time frame: by the end of 2017
- Enrol, budget and plan my calendar to support class attendance
- Attend weekly aerial silks class (1 hr/week x 12 weeks x 4 terms a year)
- Minimum of 4x/week practice the splits for 15mins
- Seek support from peers /coach — ie. stretching and trick execution
- Measure flushed-ness to the ground 1x/ month (may be tricky, get help with this!)
This scenario could be simply converted to a reinvention goal too.
Goal setting can be challenging but their achievement builds momentum and confidence. Think of it as being better than submitting to the grind of your current path or jumping from idea to idea because of lack of thought and preparation.
3. Avoid Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias is the “tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories.” It occurs when we believe a hypothesis strongly that we seek validation of it and disregard disproving evidence.
Before going out there take a moment to consider:
- How is this problem currently being solved?
- What is the job to be done? (Emotional, social, functional)
- How can I test to validate/disapprove what I’m trying to do?
- What value do I add?
- What outcomes are likely to occur and how can I increase my chance of success?
These questions seem appropriate to new business creation, however are equally relevant to small incremental change. For example a move between industries may stem from your own emotional desire for intrinsic purpose; you could complete short course(s) before trying a short term contract gig to see if it’s right for you.
Reintention recap:
- Do you know your strengths and how they can fuel your next action?
- What strengths can you test and measure?
- Do you have solid goals in place and a regular review process?
- What potential beliefs/actions stem from bias and how can your thoughts and actions be more objective?
Read part 2 here!
