Why boring is under-rated

Instant disclaimer…this is not a blog about a certain American company owned by a South African born entrepreneur!

What I am writing about today is whether or not we have been oversold on the value of innovation and change? It is very hard to argue against the fact that we are experiencing immense change in the world as a result of technological progress with entrenched societal norms being challenged daily. This is where people typically insert those irritating words “disruption”, “newness”, “innovation” and my all time favourite “VUCA World”. I really look forward to the day these phrases stop being bandied about by everyone wishing to communicate the facade of relevance and advancement.

Anyway…one of the world’s greatest investors and wealthiest individuals Mr Warren Buffet achieved his success with the most down to earth basic investment techniques. He didn’t spend a cent on  stakes in Amazon or other so called tech innovators. I dont think his life has necessarily been unfulfilling and dont think his empire was ever at risk of the cliche, adapt or die. He will in fact, die one day with more than 50% of his wealth pledged to assist in worthy causes around the world. That all being achieved without necessarily disrupting anything or launching a killer app. Or referring to any analysts question as a bonehead question!

Hands up if you have heard this cliche before, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn”. Keep your hand up if you actually know who this quote can be attributed to? His name is Alvin Toffler. Wikipedia describes him as an American futurist and businessman so we know he was a fairly bright man. The immense irony of Mr Toffler’s quote is that it has spurred people on to make questionable, fast decisions all under the guise of unlearning and learning. As we bull-dose our way through life’s decisions, wrecking stability around us, Mr Toffler’s quote becomes even more relevant as those around us now have to learn, unlearn and relearn to adjust to the mess we may have created in their lives. You can put your hand down now if you haven’t already.

It has become fashionable for executives to constantly re-arrange their organisations under the guise of adapting to the environment around them. In some cases it is necessary as death may be just around the corner (is that you Multichoice?). However, in many cases I wonder if people end up implementing the change for the sake of being perceived as innovative. If a company sets the explicit objective to avoid long term job losses and implemented a standard operating model and became really good at what it did, would this not deliver more value over the long term? Anders K. Ericsson, a psychology professor and author of Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise articulates in his book how deliberate practice is the key to building excellence. Assuming Professor Ericsson is correct, then why disrupt your organisation and constantly churn and reshuffle your teams so that every 18 months they are working on different tasks? Under different supervision and under different strategies.

What if the company’s strategy was simply to stick to its knitting. To make widgets, serve the public or empower its people better than anyone else? Making adjustments according to the market where necessary, rather than disrupting or shifting their entire world. In fact, I put it to you (thanks Adv Roux) that by sticking to their knitting organisations will become exceptional at what they do and internally build the capability to react better to the environment. What if the strategy was to make as few unnecessary changes as possible, under the condition that the existing work deliver the results?

In our personal lives, what if instead of being obsessed with activity we narrowed down to a few meaningful activities? What if we didnt enroll our kids for 7 extra murals weekly, but allowed them to pick one and become exceptional at it. What if instead of a fleeting international trip to a new location every year, we found one single location and went deeper? What if we went there every year, learnt the language and built real relationships with the local community?

So where does this leave us? I appeal to everyone reading this blog, not to be seduced by the need to appear to be innovative. To appear to be comfortable with change. Once you have found your groove, invest time and effort in making it the most comfortable, sustainable place for you in terms of your well-being.   We dont have to lay-off hundreds of staff using the excuse of change…when in effect the world hasn’t changed that much. Lastly, maybe for the people we care about the most it is time to stop trying to keep it fresh. But to settle down, slow down and go deeper. Maybe its time to unlearn the idea that activity equals progress. To me it quite obviously doesn’t.