Friction will be useful. With out it, we might slide round uncontrollably. However an excessive amount of friction can forestall us from transferring ahead or altering path.
At present’s put up is by James Millar, writer of Constructing Bridges. That is an archived put up initially revealed in 2019.
Friction will be useful. With out it, we might slide round uncontrollably. However an excessive amount of friction can forestall us from transferring ahead or altering path.
Sir Isaac Newton noticed {that a} physique at relaxation stays at relaxation until it’s acted upon by an unbalanced power. However this isn’t simply true for bodily objects. Now we have all skilled friction in different components of our lives. As an example, after we procrastinate or make excuses, we could not apply sufficient power to beat friction inherent in the established order.
For greater than a decade, I’ve seen the advantages that executives can derive from ongoing, genuine conversations with friends. And I’ve come to imagine that each skilled ought to belong to no less than one community of trusted friends who meet usually to trade concepts, discover new views, and possibly even share just a few laughs. But few professionals appear to take pleasure in the advantages such a bunch can provide. I’ve typically questioned why. And I’m beginning to suppose it comes right down to friction.
So, what are these sources of friction? There are no less than 5:
Lack of understanding. Simply as few individuals yearned for an iPhone earlier than it was invented, many executives don’t know they’re lacking an important skilled useful resource.
Competing priorities. Many professionals bounce all day from one assembly or name to the subsequent, earlier than speeding to the airport to attend a convention, shopper occasion, board assembly, or management retreat. They don’t know methods to add yet another factor to an already overloaded schedule.
Low expectations. Skilled interactions are sometimes a multitude, with too many members who’ve too little in frequent. Occasions could function boring or irrelevant shows, with restricted alternatives to be taught from friends. And content material is commonly a thinly-veiled gross sales pitch, introduced by distributors whose industrial objectives are nakedly apparent. Who would need extra of that?
Time is scarce, so peer interactions have to be rigorously designed and executed, with the correct individuals, considerate agendas, rigorous preparation, and nice discussions led by expert facilitators. This takes experience, dedication, and assets; and chopping corners hardly ever works.
Slim imaginative and prescient. Too many executives view the world by means of a short-term lens. They don’t admire how ongoing, trust-based engagement with purchasers or friends can yield vital advantages over time—whether or not as a sponsor or a community member.
However right here’s the factor: in the long run, friction is often only a design constraint. And design constraints will be overcome if we take a look at the issue otherwise.
Think about Henry Ford; When he launched the Mannequin T in 1908, automobiles had been scarce, costly, and unreliable. However Ford had a imaginative and prescient that influenced the design, not solely of the Mannequin T, but additionally of the method he used to fabricate and promote it. He declared:
“I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one—and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God’s great open spaces.”
That is a compelling imaginative and prescient. To appreciate it, Ford developed the primary transferring meeting line for the mass manufacturing of a complete car. This decreased, nearly in a single day, the time to construct a automobile from 12 hours to 2 and a half hours. Inside 10 years, Ford had bought practically 10 million Mannequin T’s. Abruptly, employees not solely dreamed of proudly owning a automobile, however they anticipated to personal a automobile.
It’s more and more clear that leaders must anticipate extra too. They’ll not depend on what they know individually. As an alternative, they should have interaction usually with friends to determine what they know collectively.
Savvy executives don’t let constraints get of their method. They apply sufficient vitality to beat the friction that’s impeding their private {and professional} improvement: by creating or looking for out prime quality peer networks; by carving out sufficient time for lively participation; and by specializing in the returns they, and their organizations, will understand from a extra strategic funding of time and assets.
James Millar is the writer of BUILDING BRIDGES: The Case for Govt Peer Networks (CLICK HERE to get your copy). He’s the founding father of SkyBridge Associates, an organization that designs, creates, and leads the chief peer networks that leaders must construct genuine relationships and share precious insights. He’s former director of MBA Admissions and Monetary Support at Harvard Business College.
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