“Today is our 966th day in deep space. A little under three years into our five-year mission. …We continue to search for new lifeforms in order to establish firm diplomatic ties. Our extended time in uncharted territory has stretched the ship’s mechanical capacities but fortunately our engineering department, led by Mr. Scott, is more than up to the job.…”
In the first installment of this series, I talked about the leader needing to reinvent him or herself. The questions Who am I? and What should I be doing with my life? are indeed more relevant than ever before.
While it’s important to understand this for our own selves first and foremost, it’s not just for us as leaders. Organizations and communities must also question their purpose.
It’s clear that some organizations – even some industries – may not survive this particular crisis. Covid-19 is but one in a series…
Organizations today are living through the classic exercise How to Kill Your Company. It is no longer an intellectual exercise. It is a reality. The old way of doing business will no longer work. Tomorrow is here.
For those who want to survive, who strongly believe they can… what will that look like?
Here are some questions you can ask:
- What is the basis of who we are and what we do?
- What is essential?
- What can we let go of?
- What does the world need?
- Where do the new opportunities lie?
I know it seems like there are more questions than answers. If you’re a business owner or a leader or manager, you need to be asking these very questions. You’re facing an unprecedented challenge – the need to reinvent your company and/or your team.
For that you will need to approach this change in a new way, without necessarily knowing what that way is. OK, not so simple.
The most difficult part will be letting go of any past preconceived notions of how things ‘should’ be done. Recognize that many other ideas lie ahead. This takes courage, determination and a vision of where you’d like to go.
But you have the tools and the information you need right now. It’s in the collective knowledge of your experience, your expertise and most of all, your people. Get a group of people together and start asking the questions.
“These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.”
Yours in Reinvention!
Danielle
For a list of the questions you can use to get the discussion started, please feel free to join the mailing list and contact me.