Thrivable Leadership : Interview with Kevin A. Clark

Each Wednesday, we post an interview with someone who is living, exploring, or championing aspects of thrivability – people at the forefront of cultural, organizational, or individual change.

Kevin A. Clark is an award-winning brand strategist, experience designer, author, and transformational catalyst.  He is President and Founder of Content Evolution LLC formed in 2002 to provide leadership in brand behavior and experience strategy.  In early 2009 Kevin retired from IBM with 30 years of service.  He is Program Director emeritus, Brand and Values Experience, IBM Corporate Marketing and Communications – responsible for discovering and creating new ways for people to experience IBM.  As a business metaphysicist, Kevin also is a member of the North American Thrivable Network.

Todd Hoskins:  In your experience how are the impacts, methods, or requirements of leadership changing?

Kevin A. Clark:   Yes, there’s definitely a shift.  John Perry Barlow says the role of the manager is changing from telling people what to do, to helping them make sense of things (so they can act on their own).  Leaders need to move from directing to enabling.  Governance at the board level needs to move to enablement too, and environmental scanning.  This is part of the resilience and adaptive function leaders need to embrace.

Business schools are creating technically capable professionals, yet they are not delivering two things you get promoted for:  leadership and judgment.  Leadership gets some air time mostly by case study, yet more focused on outcomes than the journey.  Judgment hardly at all.  We need to find better ways to provide learning environments to hone good judgment – both inside the enterprise (the federation in my case) and the classroom.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter at Harvard Business School said two decades ago the new deal with employers and employees is:  We can’t guarantee your employment, but we can guarantee your employ-ability.  I like that deal.  It means you take full advantage of being the best you can be as a lifelong learner and professional, and it places the burden on the organization to find ways to hold on to you.

Todd:  There is a collapse of disciplines/silos that we see happening, which also seems to point towards the more thrivable whole.  Business leaders are no longer just reading business books.  You are influenced by Don Beck, Ken Wilber, Dave Snowden, Carl Jung, Dan Ariely, among others.  What is happening here?

Kevin:  Business leaders are beginning to act as authentic selves in all contexts as opposed to acting situationally.  Situational management techniques lead to multiple personality disorder; and organizational schizophrenia.  If you treat all the people in your life with respect and don’t become another person when you go to work, you start to understand how to play non-zero – or more ways to play in an increasingly win-win world.

I believe we’re also inheriting a new generation of people who are broadly networked and think in bursts (texting-minds), combined with short attention spans and a width of broad knowledge.  I see imprinting and collective consciousness moving toward bite-size interaction with implications for short-burst projects and direction.

I work with companies in other parts of the world that have 100 year plans and accompanying scenarios – we have a shorter time horizon in our Western left-brain linear processor world.  We need to embrace the non-time-dependent, holistic side of our thinking to be fully ready for economic forces emerging that have a much longer term and more comprehensive outlook.  There is also a perceptual and cognitive readiness emerging that makes it possible to both collaborate and compete simultaneously.  It is the “I” and the “we” held in dynamic tension – not canceling out each other, but amplifying the strengths of both.

Todd:  Is business planning changing?

Kevin:  Business planning is changing from simply doing “well,” to doing well and doing “good” for a number of stakeholders.  We encourage an understanding of the full spectrum of resource acquisition and resource allocation, making provision for alternative futures and preparing for them.  We look at monitoring emergence, and understanding both the permissions to operate freely and unconstrained along with the behaviors that will trigger regulation and customer defection.  These are all needed by the contemporary business planner.  Spreadsheets will no longer be the primary planning tool.

Visual models accompanied with explanatory narrative and a financial business case will be needed to deliver competitive resilience in the future.  The planning cycle will also have to move from annual or quarterly cycles to continuous modes with selected deep dives.  This will provide new insights and help eliminate the unjustified assumptions which can deplete the energy of companies through unnecessary activities and operations.

Todd:  Content Evolution is a global “non-holding” company.  I know you’ve called it a “federation.”  How do the companies relate to one another?

Kevin:  Content Evolution functions as a global ecosystem of member companies – we work together to organize intention around marketplace behavior.  Much of this is done by exposing members to each others’ capabilities, participating in joint business development activities, and global teleconferences.

We have a business development commons that brings together the sales and development executives from the member companies and provides a safe environment for them to collaborate and quietly do horse-trading.  We also have an annual conference for our 40 companies worldwide – last year at Interbrand headquarters in Manhattan – and this coming year in the spring at Jack Morton Worldwide in Boston.

Todd:  How does this model represent a shift from the old “if you can’t beat them, join them” model of compete or acquire?

Kevin:  We collaborate.  I’m reinvesting the 30 years I spent in the corporate world and taking my professional relationships and federating them into something integral that hasn’t existed before.  It’s also better being a global mentor than being a traditional manager – just like it’s better to be a grandparent than being a parent!

Content Evolution as a member federation has no debt, since no one acquired anyone.  We have more capabilities than the largest of the marketing holding companies, spanning customer and market research, product and service ergonomics, business and thrivability strategy, brand strategy and management, and customer and constituency experience design and strategy.

Todd:  What have you learned in pioneering this federation?  What mistakes have you made?

Kevin:  I have made no mistakes (says the ego).  “Ha!” says the rest of my consciousness.  I like to move in several different directions at once.  Some of my experiments failed, such as working on a collaborative book (too much effort for too little collective reward).  We refocused our group energy around driving revenue rather than driving early visibility.  The recognition we’re here is growing – commensurate to our practical contributions to solving client problems and adding breakthrough value.

Our strategic selling method: listening, just like I’ve needed to direct less and listen more to the members.  Today we’re working together better than ever and thriving as a group.

Todd:  Anything else, Kevin, that can help us thrive in the New Year?

Kevin: Be intentional!

Todd:  Thanks, Kevin.

People-Powered Innovation: Interview with Robin Chase

Each Wednesday, we post an interview with someone who is living, exploring, or championing aspects of thrivability – people at the forefront of cultural, organizational, or individual change.

Robin Chase is founder and CEO of GoLoco, an online ridesharing community.  She also founded and leads Meadow Networks, a consulting firm that advises city, state, and federal government agencies about wireless applications in the transportation sector, and impacts on innovation and economic development.  Robin is also founder and former CEO of Zipcar, the largest carsharing company in the world.  In 2009, she was included in the Time 100 Most Influential People.  Robin lectures widely, has been frequently featured in the major media, and has received many awards in the areas of innovation, design, and environment.

Todd Hoskins:  Robin, you’ve been looking at the possibilities of using excess capacity for quite a number of years now.  What is compelling about excess capacity?

Robin Chase:  Excess capacity lets us tap quickly and cheaply into resources that already exist.  We don’t have to pay for the asset, place it, maintain it.  I think about excess capacity very broadly: assets, physical space, temporal space, experiences, expertise, and networks.

Some obvious examples of making use of excess capacity are Wikipedia (excess mental capacity and expertise), eBay (excess junk), Flickr (other people could use your photos), LinkedIn (ditto for networks), CouchSurfing (beds).

Less common examples are Cyclovia in Bogota, Columbia, where excess road space on Sunday mornings led them to shut down 121 km of roads to car traffic and open it up for pedestrians and bikes.  From 7am to 2pm 1.3 million residents go out and play, dance, exercise, and meetup.  It has been an enormous success.  All for very little money and implemented very quickly.

Todd:  Are we cooperatively enabled to apply this excess capacity?

Robin:  Ah, technology!  I love it.  We may or may not be cooperatively programmed, but that is beside the point.  All of the examples I listed don’t require cooperation in the way we usually think of it.

With Zipcar, for example, 450,000 people are using 7,000 cars.  But it is painless.  No one is waiting for someone else or waiting their turn. Through the miracle of technology the sharing is easy and frictionless.  Of course, there are lots of examples that do require some cooperation.  My point just is that this is not required.

Todd:  You are serving on the National Advisory Committee on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and advising on policy issues.  How can our governments possibly become more adaptive and less rigid?

Robin:  Innovation is a country’s lifeblood.  Imagine if our lives stayed exactly the same.  The 1980s forever! (or choose your decade).  On the other hand, people hate change because they can’t quite see the future so it is unnerving.

Big companies and governments (who occasionally respond to their constituents who like the status quo) are not that easy to change.

By enabling innovation — 1) creating a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship; 2) reducing barriers and costs to experimentation; and 3) reducing the costs of the innovation inputs — government can make it possible for people to do the changing themselves.

This committee is specifically looking at ways to improve K-12 and university education to change the culture and provide more opportunities to innovate, making sure that government-funded research that has the potential for commercialization is easier to get at.  We are looking at reducing the effort and time to participate in the US government small business programs and procurement programs, and changing capital incentives for investing in startups.  Lastly, we are looking at ways of celebrating innovation and entrepreneurship.

I am particularly interested in getting more value out of government technology policy and procurements so that we maximize its potential for repurposing by innovators and businesses.  The government is about to make huge investments in smart transportation, smart health, smart grids, smart education.  We can unlock the excess capacity found in government purchases by making them more open.  Open as the default.  Closed proprietary single-purpose purchases need to be argued for.  Open data, open devices, open spectrum, open radio, open networks should be the norm.

Todd:  If we cannot rely on government or big business to facilitate change quickly enough, who can we turn to?

Robin:  People! I think of it as people-powered innovation: collaboration production, collaborative consumption, collaborative infrastructure, collaborative financing.  The excess capacity of individuals (their expertise, networks, assets, time) beautifully leveraged and joined together on the internet will be the most powerful force for change in the next 20 years.

Together, we get incredible speed and scale, at a fraction of the cost, and using resources of all kinds efficiently.  Beginning examples of this — we are in our infancy of this idea right now — include Airbnb and Etsy.  Smart phone apps are an example too. Based on the excess capacity made available in these devices over the last 2.5 years, we have seen 500,000 applications built — primarily by individuals.  Yes, Apple has made out like a bandit, but Android is surging ahead with its reduced tolls.  And hopefully, some of those innovating engineers are making a living and starting some interesting new companies.

Todd:  You’re currently living in Europe.  What are you seeing and experiencing that you would like to bring home to the US?

Robin:  It is totally intriguing to experience firsthand the differences that result from very different government spending priorities. Both systems are imperfect.  France has really terrific transportation, road, rail, and airport infrastructure compared to the US. My ability to move around this city without a car and having so much choice (walk, bike, metro, bus, high speed train, etc) is a great pleasure.

On the other hand, the amount of duplicate forms to be filled out and mailed places — back and forth — is pretty amazing. The value of some of the bureaucracy around opening a bank account, getting an apartment, signing up for a transit pass eludes me. This frustrates me to no end since I’ve experienced the same transactions so easily and quickly in the US.

Todd:  Robin, thanks for making the world a more thrivable place!

Something Great Together Again

Thrivability is participating in something great together again.

Thrivability asks us – what might we achieve together that is great? What might we do to flourish? It asks us to move beyond the contraction and fear that resides in “sustainability” framing and create something fun, engaging, lively, creative, agile, resilient, enduring, and evolving.

We teeter on the precipice of the now, look back at all human culture and evolution itself has generated. Do we level up? Or do we fall over? Do we have it in us, together and individually, to co-create something worthy of that legacy? Or are we shame-faced at the errors of our past and retreat from our own creation and the consequences thereof?

If we step forward together, what is it that we create? How do we use what we have to create something more than what is there now? And do so responsibly? Responsibly to our ancestors? Responsibly to our future? Responsibly to each other? So we can collectively gaze back in the mirror on some future day and say we are proud of what we have done?

  • Did I connect people in ways that enriched their sense of meaning and purpose in the world?
  • Did I give them the information they need to make the best choices for our collective outcome?
  • Did I make a meaningful contribution to society? Did I improve the human condition?
  • Was I and am I a part of the breakdown or the breakthrough?
  • Did I dance gracefully with my follow beings and bring laughter and delight to human existence?

I have many questions. The answers are given each day, by each of us, knowingly or unknowingly.

Expansion and Movement: Interview with Leilani Henry

Each Wednesday, we post an interview with someone who is living, exploring, or championing aspects of thrivability – people at the forefront of cultural, organizational, or individual change.

Leilani Henry is an Educational Kinesiologist and pioneer in bringing innovative whole brain strategies to personal, professional and organizational transformation.  In addition to running her own business, and being an artisan, Leilani is a member of the North American Thrivable Network.

Todd Hoskins:  You’ve said thrivability involves embracing the dangerous parts of ourselves and our world.  What does that mean?

Leilani Henry:  It is difficult to acknowledge that we are afraid.  So many things are the opposite of what they seem to be.  For example, letting go of control to allow things to emerge gives you a different type of control.  Admitting we are not perfectly strong makes us stronger.  To be vulnerable could feel dangerous, but opens up new possibilities.

There is a dot of yin in the yang, and yang in the yin.  There is a bit of safety in the danger, and danger in the safety.  We need to reframe danger.

Todd:  In an organizational setting, what are the dangers we need to embrace?

Leilani:  Risk is often the danger because we are oriented towards security.  How much risk are we willing to take?  Are we willing to shake up our relationships with stockholders or customers for long term benefit?  What will we do for the greater good?

Risk is evaluated on the continuum between opportunity and danger. The flow stops if you don’t take any risks.  If it is an opportunity, there may be danger involved.  We learn through mistakes and failure, so a thriving organization does not play it totally safe.  Think fragile balance!

We contract because of fear, both as individuals and organizations.  How do we train our talent, engage in our market, make investments, and expand when everyone else is contracting?

This is an essential part of thriving – to expand within contraction.

Brain cells are not given the chance to work in contraction.  We can either be creative as a choice point, or be fearful and submit to fight or flight, locking up our brain cells.

Brain cells are a metaphor for the organization.  Employees have ideas and want to change things, but if fear and contraction are ruling the organization, the brain cells will not be activated.  A thriving organization must be able to open and trust its people, just like a person must be able to open to the contraction and trust his or her brain cells .

Todd:  What are we learning about the brain?

Leilani:  The brain has plasticity.  It used to be believed there were a finite number of brain cells.  This is not true.  We continue to learn, change, and grow.

Habits create ruts in your brain.  In order to change a habit, you have to create a new neural pathway.  That requires the body, and new research suggests movement helps forge these paths.

We need to be moving more often, even if it is only stretching or doing neck rolls in your chair.  This is not just for the good of your body, but also facilitates brain activity.

The brain likes sensory stimulation.  Kaleidoscopes are loved not just because they are pretty, but because they enliven the mind.  Smells, colors, tastes – all rejuvenate brain cells.

Todd:  You talk about “embodying change.”  How does change move through the body?

Leilani:  We often freeze in situations of fear.  We stop breathing.  We contract physically.  We have a choice to move into expansion with curiosity.  To breathe consciously and move consciously is to encounter the possibilities of change in new ways.  We can move toward the object of our fear and explore it.  Or we can back away with a neutral stance.

By allowing the body to move and be aware of our inner state, new possibilities can emerge.  We release stress in our muscles.  We see our situation from a new perspective.  We learn from our body, and our bodies help us learn.

I use movement in workshops.  People often respond with varied combinations of joy and resistance.  It can be a polarizing experience.  I’ve learned to integrate it more effectively. Organizations need to think about how they can breathe and move as well.  It’s not just the people who contract.  An entire organization can contract as well.

Todd:  Anything else?

LeilaniFor change to be moving freely we need to move consciously more often.

Todd:  Thanks, Leilani.

You’ve said Thrivability involves embracing the dangerous parts of ourselves and our world. What does that mean?

It is difficult to acknowledge that we are afraid. So many things are the opposite of what they seem to be. For example, letting go of control and allowing things to emerge gives you a different type of control. Admitting we are not perfectly strong makes us more strong. Getting to vulnerability is dangerous, but opens up new possibilities.

There is a dot of yin in the yang, and yang in the yin. There is a bit of safety in the danger, and danger in the safety. We need to reframe danger.

In an organizational setting, what are the dangers we need to embrace?

Risk is often the danger because we are oriented towards security. How much risk are we willing to take? Are we willing to jeopardize our relationships with stockholders or customers? What will we do for the greater good?

Risk is evaluated on the continuum between opportunity and danger. If it’s an opportunity, it’s probably not that much of a risk. The flow stops if you don’t take any risks. We learn through mistakes and failure, so a thriving organization does not play it safe.

We contract because of fear, both as individuals and organizations. How do we train our talent, make investments, and expand when everyone else is contracting?

This is an essential part of thriving – to expand within contraction.

Brain cells are not given the chance to work in contraction, the body does most of it. We can either be creative as a choice point, or be fearful and submit to the danger, locking up our brain cells.

Brain cells are a metaphor for the organization. Employees have ideas and want to change things, but if fear and contraction are ruling the organization, the brain cells will not be activated. A thriving organization must be able to open and trust its people, just like a person must be able to open to the contraction and trust his or her brain cells.

What are we learning about the brain?

The brain has plasticity. It used to be believed there were a finite number of brain cells. This is not true. We continue to learn, change, and grow.

Habits create ruts in your brain. In order to change a habit, you have to create a new neural pathway. That requires the body, and new research suggests movement helps forge these paths.

We need to be moving more often, even if it is only stretching or doing neck rolls in your chair. This is not just for the good of your body, but also facilitates brain activity.

The brain likes sensory stimulation. Kaleidoscopes are loved not just because they are pretty, but because they enliven the mind. Smells, colors, tastes – all rejuvenate brain cells.

You talk about “embodying change.” How does change move through the body?

We often freeze in situations of fear. We stop breathing. We contract physically. We have a choice to move into expansion with curiosity. To breathe consciously and move consciously is to encounter the possibilities of change in new ways. We can move toward the object of our fear and explore it. Or we can back away with a neutral stance.

By allowing the body to move and being aware of our inner state, new possibilities can emerge. We can release stress in our muscles. We can see our situation from a new perspective. We can learn from our body, and our bodies can help us learn.

I use movement in workshops. People often respond with varied combinations of joy and resistance. It’s a very polarized experience. Organizations need to think about how they can breathe and move as well. It’s not just the people who contract. An entire organization can contract as well.

Anything else?

For change to be moving freely we need to be moving.