One Good Reason To Change Your Actions
“Outsight”, the idea put forward by Ibarra in her book “Act like a leader, Think like a leader” describes how change happens from the outside in, instead of inside out. Simply put; only by changing your actions, will the way you think also change. This is a powerful point when thought about the way that we normally need to “talk ourselves into” doing things we feel outside of our comfort zone.
Daily Changes
The difference between “What we should be doing” vs “What we are actually doing” is a great example of the way our thoughts battle with the capacity of our ability of taking action. By extending and diversifying our actions and experiencing new situations and outcomes, we will inevitably be forced to think differently. This is of course very difficult to do when we have a set of tasks to execute, expectations to meet whilst also needed growing our skill-set. So how do we get out of this vortex? Without a fundamental alteration in the way we react and revert to daily asks, it seems impossible. Ultimately, being able to change this is the essence of acting like a leader to start thinking like one too.
Competency Changes
As organizations tend to have co-existing hierarchical teams that depend on each other, “group-think” and repetitiveness of processes promote actions that are taken in an orderly fashion. Ultimately, this only contributes to acting and thinking more of the same and akin to others around us. Diaries filled with meetings all day only adds fuel to this fire.
Value is created much more collaboratively, outside the lines of self-contained groups and organizational boundaries. People who can not only spot but also mobilize others around trends in a rapidly changing environment reap the greatest rewards.
Constant redefinition and evaluation is needed to see whether the once-useful mind-sets and habits can persist the passing of time. This is also true for once-useful competencies. Although we might be good at fulfilling task A, perhaps the need to do it inadvertently comes out of a “competency-trap”. The more we know we are good at completing those tasks, the more we do it regardless of their usefulness. Although we may get enjoyment our of being self-efficient, it is not scalable. At this point, the real competency needed is having confidence and command in stakeholder management.
The mastery we feel is like a drug.
So what is the one good reason to change your actions?
Within this context, it is to break free from your own construction of your comfortable nest where there is no opportunity for change or growth. This will lead to a shift in your role from driving results to providing strategic direction. Gaining insight from the diverse actions you take will inevitable evolve your thoughts.
This will also be the start of mastering the art of getting buy-in for your ideas. The time spent optimizing your technical delivery of operations now becomes a zone to make more decisions in uncertainty and ambiguity. Through imbalance, finding the perfect balance to lead with actions rather than thoughts.
