The Spirit of the Pioneer
A few days ago I ran an experiment here on LinkedIn.
I invited people to invest 25 minutes to watch an interview that would seem to have no relevance to people on a? business networking site. Quite a risk. But I was confident anyone who did would consider it a good use of their time. I did not explain why they should watch it. I didn’t want to influence their thinking when answering the questions I them to answer having watched it. But I did suggest I would share my logic for the experiment, and my take on the interview, at a later date. So here goes….
The interview was about redefining an industry, the ‘music industry’. It is the sort of thing pioneers might do. And it is pioneers that drive the kind of progress the Enlightened Enterprise is focused in stimulating and supporting.
The interview was with Jacob Collier, a musician who, at the age of 30, has already earned 6 Grammy awards. And his talent was spotted by legends like Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock. His first Grammy awards were for the music he recorded in his bedroom – no, not the garage this time!
In the interview he personifies what it means to be a pioneer. And he articulates many of the character traits, beliefs, and behaviours typical of a pioneer.
In the 21st Century we need pioneers who see opportunities and are motivated by wanting to improve lives, often by doing what has not previously been done, to make progress and overcome challenges. They don’t see problems, they see challenges!
If one phrase sums up the way pioneers think it is their view that, “there’s got to be a better way” – to create music, provide education, deliver healthcare, run a government etc.
At the Enlightened Enterprise Academy we believe there are two groups of pioneers. Those who try and achieve change within the organisation they belong to, and those who escape the constraints they feel and try and achieve it from the outside. We exist to support both.
Every organisation has people at every level that see the opportunities and want to realise them. They are often restricted by “the system.” But, if they can be supported, others will come forward and a tipping point will be reached. The enterprise may then become an enlightened enterprise.
My hope is that the interview with Jacob Collier has helped you see the mindset, attitude and character traits of the pioneer, and how valuable such people can be in creating value for others when they have the agency to do so.
Directors and executives should see the wisdom of creating the conditions in which pioneers can become the best they can be, and are able to spread their infectious enthusiasm, to inflame innovation potential which is so often suffocated.
If you see what we see, join us and help us to help you and other pioneers, because every pioneer understands the importance of collaboration and cooperation as a key to their success.
The smartest pioneers, like Jacob, engage the audiences they serve in the process of finding the better way.
“The Better Way: Enlightened Enterprise” is the book project I just started, and I invite you to join the journey as I work on each chapter. Support the creation of the book and you will be invited to join live online dialogues with subject matter experts to explore each chapter. DETAILS
As a final thought, I would like to suggest we can all be pioneers in some way. And I believe pioneers are the people who respond to Gandhi’s suggestion that we should all be the change we want to see in the world.
Ah, now I understand what struck you. I have a few followup reactions in that light. As noted, Collier has become a fairly big hit commercially (you can't get into the Grammy game without that as a prerequisite – Grammies don't make hits, they recognize them), which is unusual in the industry, which, like publishing industries generally, has a steeply-sloped "power-law" distribution of success (a "pin head" and a "long tail" with a narrow inflection zone between them). So, is what he's envisioning only available to the stars, or is it also available to the rest? Back in the 90s, people like me were trying to envision how the new digital tech (relationship marketing, breaking out of genre silos) might be able to restructure the music biz to be less extremely sloped (a lower exponent to the hyperbolic power law), and to open up much more of a middle class for original creative musicians. In fact, the opposite has happened, as the powers-that-be have inevitably found ways to leverage the new tech to their narrow elite advantage. The same wealth gap that exists in the economy overall (Second Gilded Age) is going gangbusters in the music industry, more than ever. I like Collier's vision. But without specifics, what's the plan?
Deep Tech for Human Health & Performance ◆ Open Strategy-Execution ◆ Demand-Side Innovation ◆ Translational Research
1 个月Two things that struck me about the mindfulness of an explorer to venture into the unknown: (1) be well educated and prepared with knowledge about what is known, what resources can be utilized, and extant notions about the limits of knowledge and resources; and (2) make time to discern one's evolving objectives amid the unknowns of undiscovered territory. Innovation is not about merely doing things differently. Neither is it about ponderously minimizing risk before taking a step in a new direction. It is inquisitive and deliberative in action. It involves preparedness for the discovery of opportunity, as some might say, the perception of new affordances. It is continually self-assessing and self-correcting. It is unafraid of presumptive judgment by others.
Founder & CEO of Cultural Inquiry
1 个月Paul Barnett Yes, "there’s got to be a better way” – to imagine, create, invent, work, evaluate, founding, connect, sustain, maintain, name, play, be... a museum. And the answer is so simple: within the community.
The Blended Capital Group - ESG, Governance, Strategy and Finance Integration Leadership Focused on Impact Delivery
1 个月Thanks for closing the loop. The 25 minute watch was worth every second. The way we do many things needs to change, #systemsthinking is essential, pioneers are invaluable. The thinking that the Enlightened Enterprise Academy brings is a fantastic catalyst for targeting strategy that make sense based on approaches that are spot-on fit for purpose.
Founder & CEO, Enlightened Enterprise Academy
1 个月Kate Hammer Indy Neogy Mike Cribb Lyn McDonell, C.Dir FCMC Rob Karpati Andy Wilkins Barry JAMES Steve Cook NC ?? Mark Goyder Professor Charlotte Valeur Matt Meyer Marc Lawn Cathy Presland, FRSA .Nick Carus Antoinette Weibel Suzie Lewis Otti Vogt Marcello Palazzi, MSc MBA, FRSA Martin Reeves Colin Price Christopher Gleadle Louis Klein Sebastian Wolf Siebzehnruebl Gary Riccio, Ph.D. William Queale, MD Dr Raj T. Ann Graham Judy Samuelson Edwin Korver Amy Edmondson