Innovation – Encouragement is Personal

Beyond the No Wake Zone

True adventure happens out past the buoys…

I get seasick easily, especially on sailboats (and fighter jets). I’ve been on a few sailing trips. They all had one thing in common. Once we’re outside the no wake zone, my nausea starts. Things go downhill from there until my head is buried under a towel and I try to sleep until we get to dry land. Needless to say, I avoid sailing trips.

I don’t have a problem on cruise ships, except in rough seas. Cruise ships are engineered to deliver a smooth ride for their passengers. Most swells go unnoticed. Passengers wake up in a new port almost every day, and the food and entertainment are usually spectacular.

Harbor cruises work for me. I can handle cruising around inside the no wake zone, looking at all of the boats in their slips, the nice homes on the shoreline, and passing other boats as they make their way out to sea. Christmas time, with all the lights and decorations is the best. It’s relaxing and safe. There are no swells to cause nausea and seasickness.

Every sailor knows the opportunity for new discovery lies beyond the no wake zone. True adventure happens out past the buoys, past the breakwater, and out in the wind and waves. Riding around in the harbor, or lazily enjoying a multi-course dinner on a cruise ship are fun and sometimes exotic. But, neither compare to the adventure of plying the seas in a forty-foot sailboat, with your hand on the tiller.

What about the risks? Staying on shore has risks. Cruise ships certainly carry risk (and sometimes, viruses). We may take comfort that others are managing our risks for us, but nothing is risk free. Storms and rough seas will hit, no matter who drives the boat. Understanding the risks, planning and preparing for them, and facing our challenges head-on is the only consistent winning strategy…at sea, and in life.

What about seasickness? I remember talking with a sailor in Tahiti. We had flown in for a vacation, and met my mother-, and father-in-law, who were sailing their boat across the South Pacific. The sailor was a friend of theirs. I mentioned my problem with seasickness, and how it would prevent me from making such a voyage.

He laughed and said, “The seasickness usually passes after three days at sea. After that, it’s an adventure of a lifetime.”

He was right.

What the Flock is Going on Here!?!?

Which are you, predator or prey?

Lots of animals live and move in groups. Cows, sheep, wildebeest, mackerel, geese, humans…just to name some examples. We’ve come up with lots of names for these groupings: herd, flock, school, gaggle, gang, company, industry trade group, union, political party.

Each of these groupings have one primary purpose: defense. There is safety in numbers, or so the saying goes. Groups moving in unison appear larger to predators. Their coordinated movements confuse and intimidate those who would otherwise do harm to the individuals in the group.

When predators attack, they pick the weakest and most vulnerable in the group to attack first. That’s okay with the group, since protection of the group as a whole is paramount. Any particular individual is less important than the survival of the entire group.

Predators often travel alone. Eagles, bears, cheetahs, sharks, jaguars, Tesla…all loners. Sure, some predators travel in groups. Lions have their pride. Wolves have their pack. Orcas and dolphins have their pods. The primary goal of a predator, whether alone or in a group, is offense. They work in a coordinated effort to maximize return on their energy investment…capturing the most prey with the least amount of energy output.

Nothing is safe in the animal kingdom. The food chain takes no prisoners. The hunter often becomes the hunted. The same is true in human enterprises. In the (hopefully) never ending capitalist cycle of invention, construction, destruction, re-invention, and reconstruction, the roles of predator and prey can switch on a moment’s notice.

An instinctive drive for safety leads to new alliances. Predators who would never think of joining a defensive flock are drawn in by the promise of safety from some new, common enemy. Defense against the enemy becomes the rule of the day. Thoughts of maximizing return on investment, or re-inventing the future, are replaced by a focus on defending the status quo of the flock.

In a uniquely human twist, the defensive flock may even take on a new mission. The defensive flock goes on offense. This flock actively seeks out the lone predators, the re-inventors. They marshal all of their creative energy toward destroying predators before their new ideas wreak havoc on the flock. Protection of the group is all that matters. The individual is less important.

Which are you? Predator or prey? Loner, or flock member? Are you a former predator, now seeking the safety of a new flock? Are you defending the status quo, or throwing in with the crazies who are re-inventing the future? Are you on offense, or defense?

Are you making this choice for yourself, or are you allowing the flock to make the decision for you?

On Being Right

Think back to decisions you made five years ago, two years ago, one year ago.

Knowing what you know today, would you have made the same decisions? Chances are, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight and the passage of time, at least a few of your past decisions don’t look as good today.

Think about the decisions you’ll be making today, tomorrow, a year from now.

Do you plan to make the right decision? Of course you do. But, what will “future you” think of these decisions in two years, or five years?

What if the decision you made in the past was the exact right one, but needs to change today in the face of new facts? Will you make the new decision?

As automobile and air travel were being invented, imagine if railroad companies allowed their names (and missions) to change from railroad, to transportation. Railroad companies certainly had the capital and infrastructure advantages necessary to take a commanding lead in all forms of transportation, not just rail. Unfortunately, in the face of new information and disruptive innovation, they chose to hold onto their past “right” decisions. They chose to focus on being the best railroad companies, when they could have become the best transportation companies.

Making new decisions without the burden of always having to defend past decisions can lead to unexpected, and sometimes awe-inspiring, new opportunities.

Are you giving yourself and those around you the freedom to make new, better-informed decisions? Are you willing to be wrong in the past?