“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life,” Jobs said. “Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

I can’t believe it!!

The Dangers of Delegating Discovery
by Scott Anthony

Delegation is a necessary survival skill for senior executives. But when executives delegate their discovery-related innovation tasks, the odds of them finding the surprising insights that often spur transformative-growth businesses decrease dramatically.

This thought crossed my mind as I participated in a review session for an interesting new growth business that a large company was considering. The session seemed innocent enough. Senior executives actively participated in the discussion. They made thoughtful comments and helped the team clarify how it should take the idea forward. Not surprisingly, the team members had more questions than answers, but they left with a clear plan to go learn more about the things they didn’t know.

After the meeting, it was clear that executives would turn back their attention to “normal” activities, and would expect to hear an update from the team in about 90 days.

Sounds reasonable enough, right? But remember: the most powerful businesses don’t result from careful analysis; they emerge, often unexpectedly, from trial-and-error execution (a point made nicely by Roger Martin in his recent blog post). What happens if (when) after the review meeting the team discovers something unexpected that warrants a significant course correction? Strategy can’t always be scheduled.

Even worse, the dissociation of leadership from learning decreases the odds that the team will pay attention to the unexpected insight. Consider a remarkable stream of research that Peter Sims describes in his must-read book, Little Bets. The research, conducted by Dr. Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire, focused on whether people can in fact “make their own luck.” Wiseman asked volunteers, who identified themselves as either lucky or unlucky, to count the number of photographs in a newspaper. It took the unlucky group two minutes to complete the task. The lucky group completed it in seconds — because the second page of the newspaper contained a huge message telling the reader that there were 43 images. Wiseman experimented with putting a large notice in the middle of the newspaper that said “Stop counting.Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win £250.” The purported “unlucky” people were so focused on the task at hand that they missed the chance at free money.

The insight from Wiseman’s work is critical if you are trying to learn about new opportunities or test ideas. When you engage in these kinds of activities you aren’t trying to confirm things you already know; you are trying to discover things you didn’t expect. But if you delegate the task to someone, they dutifully count the pictures in the newspaper and give you a nice glossy report that answers your question, but misses the point.

Here are three simple rules for senior executives trying to drive transformative innovation efforts:
Don’t make a major decision about any market or customer segment about if you don’t have firsthand knowledge or the time to spend at least two days immersing yourself in the market. This isn’t just another call to hop on the plane to India. If you are a 60 year-old executive sponsoring a team targeting the youth market, invest the time to develop empathy around the target customer.
Spend at least one unstructured day a quarter on any idea that you think has the potential to meaningfully impact your business. Join a brainstorming session. Visit a potential customer. Participate in an in-market test.
Avoid carefully orchestrated review sessions — insist on reviewing the raw data. Pay particular attention to surprises and bad outcomes.
Engaging in these kinds of activities isn’t easy inside hierarchical companies. If you’re an executive, be mindful of the power of your words, and work hard to be in “learning” instead of “leading” mode.

There’s no substitute for first-hand experience. If you are searching for new growth, be very careful about delegating discovery.

A Norse-influenced poem by Longfellow.

“I heard a voice, that cried,

Balder the Beautiful

Is dead, is dead!”

“I knew nothing about Balder,” wrote Lewis, “but instantly I was uplifted into huge regions of northern sky, [and] I desired with almost sickening intensity something never to be described (except that it is cold, spacious, severe, pale and remote)”  When I read that passage, I shivered with a combination of sympathetic hypothermia and passionate recognition.

“Also, when change takes place through nonviolence, the societies that emerge are often more democratic, inclusive and pluralistic than when change happens through violence.
Consequently, I believe Israel, Palestine and the world at large will reap huge benefits from nonviolence.
It’s a win-win for everyone.”

–Julia Bacha

(Recently, I constantly find myself buried in work, reacting instead of planning, struggling to get work done instead of taking the time to reflect…..
then I found this blog…addressing the exact same issue.
Yay! I am not alone!!)

For Great Leadership, Clear Your Head
from HBR.org
by Joshua Ehrlich

Getting stuff done is overrated. Knowing where you are going and how to get there — strategy — is everything. But many managers still spend too much time doing and not enough time thinking. Your first challenge is learning how to stop the action.

But focusing and thinking about the big picture are not as simple as blocking out time and turning off your devices. It is about managing your attention, or what I call “mindshifting.”

I once coached an executive who was a high potential on the fast track, with tremendous charisma, drive, and analytical skills. And although Deirdre was great at executing, she struggled when she took on responsibility for the direction of her business, often scattered and stressed by the amount of work. To break her transactional habit, I suggested the following five rules.

Remove the obstacles. For Deirdre (and many other managers), her biggest obstacle was trying to do it all herself. Not only did she learn to say “no” to administrative tasks and unnecessary meetings, but she also started asking for help from her team when she needed it. She came to find that in order to trust and delegate, she needed to build a stronger team, which became her big-picture, more strategic priority. By freeing herself from the allure of details, she was able to start zooming out — that is, looking up ahead and out wide at her team’s strategy.

Quiet the noise. When Deirdre began to carve out quiet time, her focus became clearer. Mindful breathing helped her quiet internal distractions: Each morning she would sit for five minutes, with the intent of focusing on her breathing. Whenever her mind would start to wander, she would gently bring her attention back to her flow of breath. With practice, her present-focused mindfulness improved. Mindfulness helps leaders to solve problems more creatively and learn more quickly and flexibly (see Ellen Langer’s research at Harvard). Mindfulness also helps you tolerate anxiety and discomfort, which helped Deirdre listen more actively and take personal risks. She began to read more broadly and expose herself by attending conferences and networking.

Percolate. Think of the last time you had a great idea. Did it come when you were under pressure? More likely it came when you gave it time to gel. Deirdre began journaling and reflecting on her ideas over the next couple of months. And when she realized that reflection — while essential — could be potentially self-deceptive, she engaged a diverse group of senior mentors, peers, and directs to help develop her ideas.

Clarify your message. Half the battle with strategic thinking is conveying your vision — where you want to take your business — and conveying it clearly. It doesn’t have to be grand, just compelling enough to align your team’s energy and attention. Deirdre practiced communicating her vision with her colleagues and mentors. She asked for lots of feedback, and clarified her message based on what people heard.

Keep reflecting and adjusting. Besides being clear, a strategy must be effective. If your strategy is off the mark, don’t be afraid to change course. Deirdre reframed failure as an opportunity to learn. She made it a habit to regularly reflect on the available data to see whether her strategy was still working. Over time she zeroed in, and her adjustments became finer.

Staying focused on the big picture in your business is no easy task, but increased mindfulness and reflection can help you to convey and execute your leadership strategy. Of course, some or all of these tips may not work for everyone. Find what works, and then keep polishing it.