Our work lives usually provide a platform for us to offer 90-100% of what we know, professionally. To add to this we learn new techniques, skills, approaches etc. and make maybe (hopefully) a 5% enhancement to our existing talents each time. What is effectively happening is that we are foregoing the 90-100% in favor of the potential or possible 5% addition.
It is not enough to learn new techniques, skills or approaches. We have to unlearn, re-learn the existing 90-100%. Re-visit how we do these things, examine why we do them. The difference it has the potential to make is staggering. This approach would be impacting the 90-100% of what we do today, instead of a possible 5% upgrade.
We must look at ways to do the same things we do today, more efficiently. More economically. More effectively. Faster. Smarter. Better.
It may stupefy you to find out that what we do today, was learnt decades ago and we are still doing the same things in the same way. We must question why we do that. Why we do it in a certain way. Why we do it at all.
It is the age of change. Although change is constant around us, the speed of change and the rate at which it is affecting people has become phenomenal. To highlight this point peruse these facts: It took the TV 75 years to reach a market audience of 50 million. The radio took 38 years, the TV took 13 years, the Internet took 4 years, the ipod took 3 years, Facebook took 2 years, Angry birds game took 35 days and the Pokemon Go took 19 days ONLY. A blistering pace indeed. The pace of change is staggering, while we are staggering in our inability to see the sea change which is already upon us. Carrying on doing the same things in the same manner is suicide.
The most dangerous phrase today is: “We have always done it this way”. The key is to ask Why? Why do I do this? Why do I do it this way? Is there a more effective, efficient way of achieving the same thing? Why are there 5 steps? Could I do the same thing in 4 steps? Why? Why? Why? Substantive improvement can come from revisiting our current work models and approaches and improving those. This is not pushing a death knell for training on existing approaches or models, but more of a push towards training 2.0.
We must start asking why? We must start looking at dissecting existing approaches, methods, work structures etc. We must re-visit work modes that have been passed on from generation to generation or from the previous person who handed over the job to us.
In today’s climate, is it ok to visit a utility provider to pay your bill, or is it better to go online and pay it sitting in your pajamas? We learnt that pretty quick! So why not revisit all the other things we do and ask why? At one organization, a two-man full -time job turned into a one -man, 2-hour job because we asked why? Even tweaking smaller changes creates a ripple effect and in turn impacts larger areas. A re-visit is abundantly justified.
Change is a must – a constant, and changing what we already do has a far stronger impact than trying to gain new skills. In the end, the Marshall Goldsmith saying “What got you here won’t get you there” holds true.
Change the way you look at change!
Author: Uzair Hassan, CEO, 3H Solutions Group, Dubai. (uzair.hassan@3hsolutions.biz) (www.3hsolutionsgroup.com)
