Why I Believe Mastery Will Unlock Powerful Business Transformation

I’m fascinated by the idea of mastery—that putting in the time and effort to hone a particular skill or expertise reaps untold rewards. Malcolm Gladwell popularized the 10,000-hour rule over a decade ago, noting that achieving greatness requires both talent and incredible dedication to preparation. I think it’s as relevant today as it has ever been.

Artificial intelligence (AI), hybrid work, sustainability—these are only a handful of the transformative forces rapidly changing our lives. As they do, businesses must not only adapt but also lead. To earn the trust of customers, we must demonstrate deep knowledge of how our products solve their needs. ?We have to know how they win in the marketplace, where they want to take their businesses and what trends are reshaping their value proposition. This is where mastery can help transform people and businesses. ?

Mastery in action: The rise of sustainable business practices

To see how mastery is about continuous learning, think back a decade or two, when sustainability was a niche consumer concern. In contrast, today, sustainability is a social and business imperative, and two-thirds of global consumers rank sustainability as a top driver in their purchasing decisions. That has required countless professions, including IT sellers, to become masters of sustainability. Customers are now regularly asking questions about the circularity of devices or the recyclability of packaging. As a result. HP sales teams and partners have embraced sustainability as a critical area of expertise in order to deliver better business outcomes.

This example highlights two critical aspects of mastery. The first is to be a leader in your industry requires great discipline. While passion isn’t a prerequisite for mastery, it certainly doesn’t hurt. There is no doubt that mastery built on discipline drives incredible results. Evidence of this is highlighted by the inaugural winners of the HP Amplify Impact awards who are strengthening their business for the future by investing in their sustainability capabilities.

The second is that achieving these milestones requires a certain amount of humility—a willingness to learn and grow. As we’ve experienced on our sustainability journey at HP, it’s easier to adopt a growth mindset when you’re surrounded by people with a similar attitude. You can learn from each other’s questions and each other’s mistakes. That last part is key: Mastery cannot be achieved without making some missteps along the way while staying devoted to learning.

The constant evolution of mastery: AI and the next frontier for businesses

It may seem counterintuitive, but the pursuit of mastery never goes away. To keep pace with our customers’ changing needs in a rapidly evolving world, we’ll always have something new to master. Artificial intelligence presents a perfect opportunity. The field has existed in one form or another for decades (its genesis was in 1956), so experts certainly exist, but many of us are still in the early phase of understanding the full potential of AI. Now is the time for every business to evaluate their path forward.

The key is creating an environment in which we—and our teams—can develop and build our skills together. If we, as leaders, innovators, and collaborators, can foster that kind of an environment, we will be better prepared to navigate any challenges as they arise, no matter how disruptive or complex.

While some may be daunted by this challenge, I’m excited and energized to learn about this new (yet, old) field along with rest of our teams across the company to ensure we can keep evolving how we deliver value to HP’s customers. ?