The Six Most Dangerous Words

We’ve always done it this way," the six most dangerous words a leader can utter. When was the last time you heard that phrase in your organization?

If you can’t recall, let me rephrase: "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" or "just keep doing what you’re doing, we’re crushing it." Both imply that we’re living in a static world where change is slow and predictable. But guess what? We're not!

Today’s world is way more complex than it was just 20 years ago. We’re drowning in a deluge of new information every day, and the pace of that flow is skyrocketing. What you know today could be outdated in just a couple of years. Crazy, right?

So, what does this mean for how we learn and work? Ever thought about the speed of this change? Does it get you pumped or freak you out? And what does it mean for the future of your business? As business leaders, how do we prepare for and embrace our rapidly changing technological future?

In today’s fast-paced world of technological advancement, you gotta keep evolving. Companies that fail to innovate not only don’t succeed, they eventually fade into oblivion. It’s innovate or die! Remember Borders Books, Blockbuster, Toys R Us, Kodak, Circuit City? They all thought, "that won’t happen to us."

Organizational longevity is dwindling at a crazy rate. Nowadays, only 21% of companies have been around for ten years or more. Why's that?

Many failed businesses share a common thread: an inability to innovate and adapt. In today’s whirlwind of technological change, creating an adaptive culture can’t be an afterthought; it has to be part of the organization's core values.

But it’s getting tougher, thanks to the exponential speed of technological change. Exponential change is mind-boggling and hard for our brains to wrap around. As Peter Diamandis puts it, “We evolved in a world that was linear and local. Change was slow, nearly unnoticeable. Today, we live in a world that is global and exponential.” Simply put, we're not wired for the pace of technological explosion we’re experiencing.

So, dear leader, are you and your team keeping an eye on this exponential change? Are you trying to understand how it might impact your industry? Are you assembling teams that are nimble and adaptive? Are you fostering a culture of creative problem-solving? Are you doing everything in your power to foresee the future?

In my view, the most important job of a leader and their team is to predict the future as best possible and then gear up their organization for what lies ahead.

Too many organizations have fallen into the trap of reveling in their current success, only to slowly fade away while muttering those infamous words, "we’ve always done it this way."

Let’s not be one of them! What are you doing to predict the future and infuse adaptability into your culture? Let’s swap insights below. Soar, don't settle!