Blast From the Past | Reinvention (Revisited)

Reinvention Revisited

Regardless professional manager or entrepreneur, it is always good for us to take a step back to reframe ourselves and our business, and to experience what we do through a fresh lens. On my part, I regularly attend book launches, listen to interesting and inspirational speakers, and read up on the latest business dialogue through the many informative and relevant portals available.

Not that recently, but certainly stuck in my memory, I had the good fortune to attend a book launch in Kuala Lumpur. The authors were not Malaysian, nor to be honest, was any of the content. But, it struck a chord – offering fresh insight into the interactions I have every day, and with respect to the advice we as a business give to our valued clients.

What was enjoyable about the launch was not the content of the book per se, but the delight of the principal author in delivering her presentation. A seasoned pro, the author stepped it up a notch and demonstrated that all-important passion for her content – something, sadly missing in some other launches I have attended.

Kate Sweetman presenting about 'Reinvention'

I would be amiss to say that the content was not important, for it genuinely was.

Reinvention by Shane Cragun and Kate Sweetman (Kate was the presenter) brings together current practice in business. It focuses on how businesses (and their people) can look forward positively, knowing that the operational landscape shifts on a daily basis, to create positive and supported change for the organisation. This is essential, as we know “the only constant is change”.

'Reinvention' Book Launch

It was reassuring to see that many of the themes discussed throughout the afternoon paralleled recent themes we at Orchan had been expanding on – many very new to the Malaysian context – and thus validated our interest in continuing to pursue these new approaches to client cooperation.

One of these themes is the power of storytelling within the organisation. This came through prominently from all speakers as a new area to investigate. Ourselves, as practitioners, have embraced storytelling concepts for several years; and more recently have made the paradigm shift from the notion of story-telling to story-doing to story-making. Personally, I was fortunate enough to have been trained by one of the world’s leading storytelling specialists, Doug Lipton, over ten years ago, in the art of storytelling for effective management within the education sector. This revolution over a decade ago opened my eyes to the importance of structured content to shape organisational culture, rather than office banter as a fortunate mechanism to share values.

To this day, I utilise these skills, and others that I have embraced along my journey, in mentoring both my own team, my clients, my trainees, and when active, my students. The power of the story, executed appropriately, can sway negative perception towards positive, and can motivate people to go that extra mile. Throughout the ages storytelling has been a tool to move people – the only difference today is we are appreciating it in a fuller range of contexts, and the younger generation are more receptive to it within select context.

Reinvention reaffirmed many things for us. It was great to be seated in a room of like-minded entrepreneurs, business leaders, and professional managers, and to experience those collective “ah ha” moments as we reflected on our own practice, and that shared by our presenters.

What stuck with me most was ‘The Six Deadly Blindfolds’ analogy used by Cragun and Sweetman. One of the first collective ‘ah ha’ moments, when we all realise, that at some stage, we have been guilty of one or more of these practices along our individual journey; followed by the reality that such a perspective can hinder our ability to move forward in a progressive fashion. For us to remain open to positive and necessary change, we must constantly ensure no blindfolds, and must assert a changed mindset when we fall into old habits, which are so easy to do.

Opportunity to speak with Kate Sweetman after the launch

I will post a separate commentary in the remainder of this week discussing The Six Deadly Blindfolds, and how they apply to us as managers and entrepreneurs; as well as how our current acknowledgement of such practices can help us to progress and grow through understanding the contribution that can be made from removing the blindfold.

If you do get a chance to check out the book ‘Reinvention: Accelerating Results in the Age of Disruption’, I highly recommend it as a valuable read.

Let's further embrace Reinvention and continue making our mark on the business scene.