Selling with Data - #82 Disrupt Yourself

The first thing leaders do when assigned a new team is assess what is working and what is not. It is expected that a new leader will bring "fresh eyes" to uncover areas of opportunity and drive change to improve broken areas. There is a honeymoon period when anything that is going poorly can be blamed on the previous leader and the new leader receives credit for driving improvement. This makes it easy for the new leader to challenge everything and reestablish priorities and goals. Often there are obvious things that capture the way "thing have always been done" but might be broken, the new leader gets a boost by making quick changes and disrupting the status quo.

Why not use that same approach even if the team and mission is unchanged?

Why not use that same approach even if the team and mission is unchanged. As Dara Khosrowshahi , CEO of Uber said, "If you don't disrupt yourself, someone else will".

Picture a new leader taking your existing role and looking at your operations. Are there areas that could be improved? Are there people in roles that have changed and instead of facing that reality it’s easier to just keep things the way they are? Is the mission no longer working, with misaligned tactics in need of review? Are people working together on a common set of priorities with clarity of operations, measurement systems and incentives? Often there are obvious things that can be disrupted, but it’s hard to disrupt yourself without first being willing to admit to the areas needing improvement or the conditions that allowed them to happen.

Disruption occurs when a leader intentionally steps outside of their everyday operations and challenges existing approaches by seeking out new perspectives, learning opportunities and strategies.

“When you disrupt yourself, you are looking for growth, so if you want to muscle up a curve, you have to push and pull against objects and barriers that would constrain and constrict you. That is how you get stronger.” ―Whitney Johnson,Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work        

As we approach 2025, I look at my 2024 priorities and score what I accomplished and what I didn't. Instead of being wed to the current status and allowing things to continue, I look at my team and mission with the fresh eyes of a new leader and for areas to disrupt myself.

To disrupt myself I follow these steps:

Step 1 - Get in the right mindset.

• Are you open to being vulnerable and accepting that there are parts of your operations that can be improved? (If the answer is no to this question my advice is not to bother moving forward with the rest of the steps because without the vulnerability to answer the "why of the change" any change will be incremental and likely not impactful enough to justify the disruption.)
• Are you ready to drive changes, that might come with resistance from people who might prefer that things stay the same? Do you have the focus, fortitude and energy to overcome the resistance?
• Are you open to making difficult decisions about who on the team is doing what and who needs help or a different role?

Step 2 - Evaluate your mission and market for 2025.

• Why does you and your team exist? Have things changed since last year?
• How are you performing compared to competitors in the market?
• What are the most important things that you need to accomplish in 2025?

Step 3 - Define what is going to drive the biggest impact for 2025.

• To accomplish your 2025 objectives, what things are you going to keep doing?
• What new things are you going to start doing?
• What are you going to stop doing? (most people don't do this, but it is one of the most important things to clarify and communicate)

Step 4 - Determine the resources and management system to align to your priorities.

• Does your organization chart align to your priorities or do you need to make changes? Do you have the right people in the right roles to drive accountability to the 2025 priorities?
• Does the way you allocate your people and other resources align to your priorities?
• What are the key metrics and operating system for 2025 to make and drive the change? (What gets measured, gets done.)

Step 5 - Communicate, communicate, communicate.

• Simplify the mission and priorities in a way that you can consistently communicate the updated mission and priorities.
• Share, and reshare, the mission and priorities – often. (It might feel like everyone gets it, but what people hear is often different than what you think you are saying.)
• Put in place the management system to drive to the new priorities and highlight the new behaviors until they are part of the team’s fabric.

Disruption is hard, but I would rather disrupt myself than be disrupted by someone else. Leave a comment on other ways you can disrupt yourself.

Good Selling.