Reinvention now!

"In today’s environment of superacceleration, catch-up is a fool’s game. There is no advantage in keeping up. Forget about trying to compete. Instead, leapfrog the competition by redefining anything and everything about your business. Look at what the competition is doing—and do something entirely different." ~Daniel Burris and John David Mann, "The Reinvention Imperative"

Whether you know it or want it, you are in the process of reinventing yourself. The idea of reinvention--not just once but continuously, not just personally but organizationally--is now part of the 21st century conversation on success. It goes like this: we have to keep changing, keep learning and keep innovating in order to be relevant and in demand in the marketplace.

I mostly agree, and as a passionate advocate for more creativity in our lives and our culture, I enjoy taking part in this forward-thinking conversation from upstarts such as Change This, an online content source whose mission is to spread new ideas from original thinkers. Its latest issue includes "The Reinvention Imperative" by Daniel Burrus & John David Mann, which compellingly makes the case that it is now an imperative to reinvent ourselves and our businesses in order to keep up in a world where "change itself has changed":

There are two kinds of change: change from the outside in, and change from the inside out. The first happens to you. The second is an initiative that you take through conscious intention. Today there is an urgent need to anticipate and take the initiative to change from the inside out, even as all these transformations are coming at us from the outside in.

Burrus and Mann make the point that we have to be both proactive and extraordinary, and that real reinvention means getting closer to our own core, our own unique gifts. "The reinvention imperative," they write, "puts each of us on a quest to be the best me we can be."

Okay. But let's stop here. Talk of reinvention sounds cool. And it fits with my blog articles of these past few years and with my creativity competency principles:

>Fluency: Consider all of my possible options and identities

>Flexibility: Shift some things around and see things with fresh eyes

>Originality: Truly embrace my best and most unique self and offer it to the world.

But how do we really reinvent ourselves so that change is not just temporary and the results are real and different? If I'm going to reinvent myself--which I happen to be in the process of doing quite actively--what does that really mean? Does it mean that I have to change my insides first (umm, how?) or that I have to just embrace the core me and put it out in the world more effectively (oh, is that all)?

I think for personal reinvention to occur there must be a powerful mindset shift, a real change in belief about ourselves. Reinvention must be powered by a belief shift and real differences in behavior that comes from an alternative belief frame.

The truth is, this blogger needs a reinvention, a real one, not just one written on paper or that sounds good. It's time for me to put the creativity principles and rabble-rousing I've recorded here--yes, this blog holds more than 130 articles that can keep you busy reading and linking and viewing for days--to action.

Time to take the advice of the "Reinvention" authors: to stop trying to keep up and do the same as others and instead do something entirely different.

Time to embrace a belief and identity that forces reinvention and risk-taking.

Time to play by different rules.

Time for a new identity and new belief system that befits a warrior of aliveness.

New Year, New Call: for United States of Innovation

As we start a new year (and, some would say, a new decade) as an already reeling country now reeling even more from the shooting of a Congresswoman, I'm grappling with the state of the United States. There is no question that we are poorer than we were when I grew up, and there is much evidence that we are more divided and pessimistic than we've ever been. We need something (as opposed to "someone," which hasn't seemed to work) to rally behind. And I'm going to vote, once again, for "Innovation." Hear me out.

If there is anything that we've learned as Americans in this past decade it's that there are many versions of "America," and plenty of other Americans who don't see it the way you do. Red state-Blue state-Tea Party-Who's-the-smarty?-Obama-Drama, Hey! Our politics and media--which feed our sense of country and confidence--are so far out of wack that we don't know what is true or what to believe. We do know that from healthcare to housing, we've lost a lot of our wealth lately, and that as a culture and as individuals, we have more challenges than ever before. Some say that we are seeing the irrevocable fall of the American empire. Some say technology can save us, empowering us to write blogs like this that lead to less alienation than in previous years. Not all of us believe that though. What can really unite us?


It's "Innovation." I put it in quotes because we still need to collectively define what that means and to better understand creativity, the engine of innovation. But right now the political left and right, the CEOs and the artists, miraculously agree that innovation is needed, and that our future is dependent on leveraging our innovation capacity. I've called this the Innovation Imperative--that we need creativity and innovation more than ever, for economic, cultural and personal reasons.

Economic: America, with its diversity of ideas, free enterprise, university research and available capital, still has the raw materials for economic innovation. The Obama administration had been more quiet about "innovation" in 2010 than it had been the year before and, as I've discussed before, certain measures of innovation seem to be on the decline. But both political sides, as well as leaders everywhere, know that "innovation" is the key to us getting out of our economic hole. The "United States of Innovation" is the best rallying cry for getting us aligned and talking (!) under one unified banner.

Cultural: For economic success, we need an innovative culture in our cities, communities, schools and organizations. We have really difficult challenges now--from our healthcare to the environment to under-educated kids, that require a new mindset of innovation that can lead to real breakthroughs and better solutions. This blog has been dedicated to offering tools for an innovative mindset and culture, which include openness to new ideas, diverse perspectives coming together in new combinations, and the fostering of the "4Cs" of creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration.

Personal: We live in a world without long-term job security, and that means we have to be more creative individually, able to learn constantly as adults and re-invent ourselves as needed. The world is asking us to truly leverage our unique talents in ways that provide value to others, and to do that we have to be aware of and build our competencies of creativity, which I've described throughout this blog. Perhaps the most important is flexibility--which is our ability to see things differently, seek out new perspectives, challenge our assumptions and embrace change.

Despite our current malaise, the United States is still a young country and a small shift of mindset, perhaps an inner rather than outer revolution, could lead to needed change much quicker than we think. What do you think? Can we get people to rally behind innovation? What else can unify us? Here's to a 2011 where more Americans embrace their own creativity and where we're more of a united state of innovation and collaboration.