Cross-Fitness for the Organization

Contrary to conventional wisdom, proficiency isn’t always the best way to achieve a goal. Sometimes, proficiency can lead to deficiency.

Take running, for example. I’ve heard many a runners’ mantra that the way to improve running performance is to run exclusively. They run over and over, but eventually hit a plateau. Initially, the runner’s caloric output is high because the body uses more energy than normal to get used to the new patterns. As the body becomes more efficient it uses less energy to burn the same amount of calories, so the runner has to work harder to get equal output as before.

This same holds true for individuals as people fall comfortably into a pattern of behavior. Someone may get used to a specific approach, mindset or process that achieves results. The individual repeats the behavior in multiple areas. After all, why change something if it’s not broken?

There is a blindside, however, in repetition and mastery. When an individual masters something, he becomes less dependent on external resources to master the process and more dependent on his efficient mastery of the problem itself. Similar to the runner who runs exclusively, the individual who repeats the pattern requires less energy over time because the behavior has been mastered. All of the sudden, it becomes easier to develop a strategy because she’s done it before. It becomes easier to enter a new market because he relies on past experience to get him there. But in the meantime, the individual is subtly separated from the fresh insights afforded by a changing external reality.

Thus, individuals – and by extension, organizations – absently self-sustain instead of externally replenish with resources, individuals or other ways of doing things to achieve results. Processes cement around doing things the way they’ve always been done, hiring the same people or entering markets in the same way and the organization hits a plateau.

So what’s an organization to do? Well, what’s a runner to do?

Cross-fitness.

It’s counterintuitive, but if a runner wants to improve his run, he’s got to do more than just run. Moderate swimming, for example, increases a runner’s lung capacity and strength, resulting in improved speed, endurance and performance. By doing something outside of running, the individual actually becomes a better runner.

Within an organization, an individual who seeks external discovery in the unexpected advances farther than the internally oriented individual. The individual is exposed to ways of thinking, relating, approaching and executing that were not there before. All of the sudden, the avant-garde becomes the new normal, and you leave the laggards in the dust.

Filed under: Challenge, learning, Strategy, Vision

Lipton Tea Bags and Learning from Others

There are few people that do not enjoy a good cup of Lipton tea, whether it is iced down with a lemon wedge or heated up with a spoonful of honey and sprig of mint on a cold day. Ever since I can remember, I’ve opened my Lipton tea bags the same way: un-stick the top flap, grab the small perforated square between my thumb and forefinger, gently rip out said small square, pull the tea bag out of the pouch. It does irritate me when there are stray edges that come with the pull (as you can see in the picture), and I get frustrated when the small square slips from the staple in the back, leaving me with an orphan string. But I’ve always made tea this way, and even though there have been slight inconveniences, I’ve never questioned my process.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday, I was making lunch with a friend. I was grilling the chicken, and she was making the tea. I glanced over to the counter top as she opened the tea bags, and I noticed something different. Her tea bag looked like this:

You’ll notice that she opened the pouch as well, but she did it in two steps and half as much time. She didn’t fuss over the small square; in fact, she ignored it entirely. She achieved the same goal, but in a way that nullified my entire process. Why go through all that work when you can achieve the same goal in two steps instead of five?

I was unconsciously following my process for opening tea and missing out on a better way of achieving my desired end result.When we get too myopic, whether it is in a daily process, during a new product launch, when analyzing statistical data or even training employees, it is easy to unconsciously stick with a way of doing things because it’s a comfortable habit. But we run the risk of missing out on something much better, simpler, or more unique.

Bring awareness to a conscious state of mind. Always be curious and alert. Consciously look for reasons to why you do the things you do in the way you do them, and provide ways for others to learn this way in your company. By training your mind to always be on the lookout, you might find a surprising discovery.

Filed under: ideas, learning, Myopia, sharing