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Lessons from the edge of disruption Exceptional leaders embrace chaos and uncertainty, and take action
WRITING
Kate Sweetman and Shane Cragun ILLUSTRATION
Michael Kirkham
On 15 April 2013, at 2.49pm, two homemade bombs detonated within seconds of each other near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Massive amounts of shrapnel ripped into the crowd, killing three people instantly and injuring hundreds. While most spectators fled in terror, Alexander Arredondo did not. He ran into the smoke and confusion when he saw a fellow spectator’s legs blown off. Arredondo’s courage and quick action in applying pressure to the blood vessels of a total stranger saved another’s life. Arredondo was not alone. Other bystanders ran into the danger zone to help others without knowing whether a third bomb would detonate. The result of these heroic actions? Of the 264 people injured during the bombing, not one perished. It was the willingness of the fearless few to enter disruption and take action that mitigated the impact of the bombing.
Leading in the age of disruption
For all of us navigating the day-to-day complexities of today’s age of disruption, there is a powerful lesson in the Boston Marathon rescue effort: exceptional leaders, both today and in the future, will be those who run into the chaos and uncertainty. They accept ambiguity, and act with courage, speed, and conviction. And these will be leaders in all walks of life. The question is this: what are the major disruptions going off around us? And how will we respond? Disruptions can be technological, geopolitical, economic, and even climate related. We could talk about incoming disruptions, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and
cryptocurrencies. These will have, and are already having, a profound effect, no question. But from a management and leadership standpoint, what is more important are the tumultuous dynamics that these technologies unleash on us strategically and operationally. These undercurrents impact everything – from our relationship with our customers and partners, to competitive posturing and threats, all the way to the culture within our own teams and organizations.
Getting ahead of disruption
To stay ahead of disruption, we must understand the effects these forces have throughout our entire business ecosystem. And we must understand this from a global perspective, as the business environment becomes ever more borderless. How can we leverage these forces to gain advantage, instead of wandering down the path of irrelevance? How can we gain clarity in confusion? How can we find the Alexander Arredondo in ourselves, and take specific and decisive action to make a crucial difference at a very difficult time? Understanding five key lessons can help us in our ability to succeed in the age of disruption:
1
We all compete with Amazon
This first insight is all about real-time immediacy and ultra-personalization. What used to amaze us about Amazon, Google and Lyft (in the West) or Alibaba, DiDi or JD.com (in the East) is now normal. Our patience is lower, our Q2 2018 Dialogue