Career Connection

As we all know today we are in the midst of the largest business change since the birth of the Internet itself, the Internet of Everything (IoE), where more relevant, valuable connections will improve innovation, productivity, efficiency, customer experience and unlock $19Tr of economic value.

Change, whether for individuals or businesses, means reinvention. Each time a major shift happens in our lives, whether business or personal change, we have to take control, of whom we will become or risk never reaching our full potential. Making the right choices requires imagining new solutions – the best options might not be the obvious or next logical ones. As everyone navigates this new world, I believe that letting creativity function as their compass is a great place to start.

How do we develop these creative skills? Does our present educational system nurture creativity? Does it develop the kind of thinking that will help us adapt to the changing world around us? Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the existing educational status quo. He champions a radical rethink of our schools, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.

In my own life, I have reinvented myself several times. Each time, I’ve imagined my preferred “future state” as a key part of the decision process to direct the next step in my journey. When the chance to join Cisco came about, I imagined working and collaborating with some of the smartest, craziest, most passionate people in the world. I was energized by the prospect of working together with fresh, innovative thinkers to disrupt a decades old business consulting model and create a digital consulting model for the future. I was excited to have the freedom to propose and execute even my most “out-there” ideas. This process reminded me of the way children think. They dream and imagine that everything is possible, not discounting any option as too simple, too complicated, or too extreme.

Our mind in childhood is one of our greatest gifts. In the first 10 years of life, our developing brains make billions and billions of connections. It is a super?charged engine for learning and creativity – our thoughts are exponential. Yet by adult?hood we have lost most of this creativity and think in a more linear fashion – influenced by our education and experiences.

Peter Diamandis writes that we are heading towards a clash of exponential and linear thinking. The world is moving faster than ever. The Internet of Everything will drive digitization of countries, cities and enterprises while the world’s biggest problems will provide the biggest opportunities.

As we help our customers drive towards success in the face of new markets and business models, I would urge all of us to open our minds to new learning, reinvent ourselves to stop conjuring complex solutions, and liberate our minds to be truly creative. By allowing ourselves to think with the openness and optimism inherent in children, we can drive the exponential thought processes that will help us to imagine how to make the seemingly impossible become possible.