As we all know, every successful innovator makes mistakes, learns from those mistakes, and then moves forward until the innovation is right.  As Thomas Edison once famously said:

It’s so easy to get caught up in the jargon.  If I had any spare time I would create an app for my  iPhone called Business Jargon Bingo and every time I heard the words business disruption, digital disruption, digital transformation, Rockstar, “taking shots on goal”, “moving the needle”, and game-changer I would add to my digital bingo card (DBC).

While too many companies and the leaders who run them get by with hyperbole and hollow buzz words, one company continues to crush it. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

There are many reasons why leading strategic execution is so difficult and, in most cases, causes companies to fail. The typical culprits of poor execution are a lack of a good strategy, poor communications, poor change management, not enough resources, and overall bad leadership.

Unfortunately for many leaders who will realize it before it’s too late, changing customer expectations is usually far down on the list and not something most leaders pay attention to. However, I think understanding changing customer expectations is critical to immediate and long-term success.

… in 7 Words

We live on a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous VUCA world.  This world is a non-stop, 24/7, ever-changing place that feels like on some days is getting ever-so-close to the brink of complete chaos.  Business leaders, both new and experienced, wake up every day and go to work with the primary goal of survival instead of a mindset that is challenging the ways things are and disrupting the status quo.  Which in my opinion is extremely unfortunate and completely unnecessary.

During a recent live Business Leadership development workshop, one of my participants was sharing some of his frustrations with the current work environment and the fact that the velocity and complexity of change is increasing so quickly that he doesn’t have time to do his “real” work.  “I don’t get it.  I’m so busy in a day reacting and responding to things that I send myself an email for every issue I can’t get to and then when I get back online after I put my kids to sleep, that’s when I respond and actually do some work. And there are some nights where I have another 20 things to do.”  One of the other cohort members asked if he would be more productive if he worked at home more.