Achieve Breakthrough Blog Post: 6 Impossible Things
#Leadership Inspiration
1. Why Millennials in the workplace don’t care
The makeup of the global workforce is undergoing a seismic shift and the most prolific of the workforce seems to be the emergence of Gen Y. By sheer numbers alone, they have become the catalyst for accelerated change in the workplace with the Millennial generation being on track to become the majority of all employees THIS year. It’s a significant shift in its own right — and one made even more striking by the timing. Because even in 2015, some 40% of Generation Y won’t yet have left education.
According to the statistics, Millennials represent the single largest generation group in the history of the world. People are either uncharacteristically critical or exaggeratingly ecstatic about working with Gen Y, a generation of individuals who were born during the period between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. They are the most threatening and exciting generation since the baby boomers. If the Industrial revolution made individuals powerful – they could move to a city, start a business, read and form organisations. The social and information revolution has only served to further empowered individuals by handing them technology to compete against organisations - Hackers vs corporations, Bloggers vs newspapers, You tube directors vs studios, App makers versus entire industries. Their presence has caused unparalleled levels of disruption.
In a recent article in entrepreneur magazine, the millennial author, an ex-corporate executive and CEO of a tech startup shared his experiences of the workplace as a millennial and some advice on how best to engage with them as they enter your business. He acknowledged that, at times, millennials are accused of not caring and he seeks to explain some of the inner workings that could lead to their actions being misinterpreted in such a way.
“We don’t value 20th century workplace rules. Rigid office hours? Strict dress codes? Meetings to talk about meetings? The “legacy-effect” of traditions, language that sounds like corporate-speak and outdated practices are all hard for us to stomach. If the only reason why something is done in a certain way at work, is that ‘its always been done that way’, you’ll lose us. We are a generation of hackers, tinkerers and shortcut takers.”
The team found this article very insightful, particularly in understanding how the millenials amongst us think and operate. It encouraged us to think about what policies we can lose, what process are just there for the sake of process and to ensure that our culture as an organisation supported the rising emergence of the millennial in our workplace.
To read the article in full: click here.
2. Achieve Breakthrough: Performance management less sap more zap
We partnered with HR Director magazine this month to continue in our conversations around the alternatives to time intensive, often challenging and conventional approaches to performance management.
Interviewed by the leading magazine this month Achieve Breakthrough founder Mike Straw says:
“The new approach revolves around changing the old control-order-predict approach to one of acknowledging creativity and empowerment. It consists of the manager and employee working together in a much more equal way. Under the new approach performance management becomes a continual and ongoing dialogue. It is forward-looking and dynamic, focusing on future goals and targets, rather than backward looking and static. There is a different deal between manager and employee, a shift from trusting in ‘the system’ to trusting in the manager – that they will develop a truly strength-based view of the employee, be absolutely straight about any capability gaps, and work with the individual to identify where they want to get to and how the manager can help unblock the path to get there.”
The quality of conversations that we hold with the people in our organisations needs to be improved, moving from tactical and mostly for the benefit of management through to the attribution of its people to distinction curves and other management ratings. Instead, we need to focus on the individual to build trust and to enable them to thrive. And the first step? Kill performance ratings.
To read the article in full: click here.
3. Young people changing the world through the circular economy
Todays school leavers are faced with a pretty challenging future limited by depleting resources, high unemployment and the after effects of the recession. Scores of UK Schools and Universities are helping students to harness these challenges to drive a brighter future for their generation by enabling them to take global problems such as population growth and to develop ideas based on a circular economy to solve them.
Foundations such as The Ellen MacArthur Foundation are working with schools to promote circular thinking across its technology-based subjects, referred to as design economics. Ideas range from pop-up hospitals for developing countries that can be shipped flat packed around the world to catering businesses that grow mushrooms from locally sourced coffee waste grounds.
We were inspired by a recent article in The Guardian that shared some recent examples of initiatives in this space. Its fantastic to see young people creating ideas based on businesses being more sustainable and applaud the schools and institutions that are preparing these young people for a brighter future. Innovation in the education system is desperately needed and if initiatives such as those in this article can be recognised by the Department of Education and given the funding they need to scale, then we can help young people to be the creators of a brighter future for themselves and many generations to come.
To read the article in full: click here.
4. Embrace the unconventional: Something interesting is happening
Any industry, be it hospitality, pharmaceutical or retail, has is trends and conventions that enable it to operate. A hotel, one would assert, needs beds to offer to its guests. A taxi company needs a fleet of taxis to be able to service its customers. Not any more.
The rise of the intermediary business model has caused mass disruption to industries around the world and is enabling those who can think outside of convention to create huge advantage over their competitors.
This trend was highlighted beautifully in a quote by Tom Goodwin who said, “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Something interesting is happening.”
What can we learn from this increasingly significant movement and how can we harness the breakthrough work to think the way that these disruptive businesses do?
1. Operate outside of convention: Recognise the conventional wisdoms that operate inside your industry, challenge those at its very core and test new business models.
2. Spot unmet demand: The biggest indicator of unmet demand is unhappy people because they are seeking something they cannot find or they have a pain point which leads to dissatisfaction. Listen to your customers and business partners, engage in two way conversation and spot the emerging niggles that they share because its often in this territory that insights can be found.
3. Commit to something bigger: When the Air BnB’s of this world first shared their big idea, we are sure they would have been faced with armies of individuals who told them it couldn’t be done because their ideas were such a huge breakthrough and so far outside of convention for their industries. When you commit to a bigger possibility outside of predictability, be prepared to enroll left right and centre and build a team of committed individuals around you who can help you to hold that vision whilst it becomes reality. As organisational change consultants, Achieve Breakthrough can get your teams to embrace the unconventional.
5. Fighting for the living world: It’s about love
With seven billion people using fossil fuels and industrial farming depleting our soils to such an extent that its estimated that there are only 100 harvests left in UK soils, some could say that we have fallen out of love with the living world.
A hugely insightful article in this week's Guardian argues that many of the efforts of those defending the living world are so ineffective because the vast majority of us are complicit in its depletion, driven by hyper consumption and believing “corporate propaganda” which seeks to convince us that there is no cost to our actions.
The article shares insights from a new book by Michael McCarthy, The Moth Snowstorm, in which he suggests that:
“…a capacity to love the natural world, rather than merely to exist within it, might be a uniquely human trait.”
This article resonated with us because it reminded us of our organisational level commitment to the emerging consciousness of leaders and organisations. There is a movement building around the need for businesses to give primacy to more than profit and through our transformation work, we are helping many of our clients embark on this journey. The closing thoughts of the article particularly proved to inspire us,
“By being honest about our motivation we can inspire in other the passions that inspire us.”
We encourage you to share your passions to inspire others because being vulnerable enough to share your interests, you can empower others to be the change that they seek to make in the world. To read the article click here.
6. Story for Inspiration: The bumblebee – an impossible feat
This month’s story for inspiration is a short one but what it lacks in length, it more than accounts for in impact. This is the story of the Bumblebee.
“According to scientists, the bumblebee's body is too heavy and its wing span too small. Aerodynamically, the bumblebee cannot fly. But the bumblebee doesn't know that and it keeps flying.”
The only limitations a person has are those that are self-imposed or those that we allow others to put upon us. When we don't know our limitations, we have nothing to restrict us and on occasion we can even surprise ourselves.
As you finish this blog, just remember the story of the bumblebee and ask yourself if the limits you see either at work or personally are really there or whether they’ve been placed there, without invitation, by others. Achieve Breakthrough's bespoke programmes deliver a change in organisational mid-sets.
Have you got an extraordinary story that you would like considered for publishing on our monthly blog: 6 Impossible Things? Do get in touch by contacting karen.neal@achievebreakthrough.com