We Need To Change Our Perspective About Disruption…

 

I attended two conferences last week: ICATT and “Building Your Brand through Social Media”. Both seminars, although different in their objectives, had a few common themes:

1.    The age of disruption

2.    Big Data/Data Analytics

3.    Robotics

4.    Millennials

My focus on continuous learning allowed me to appreciate several key points that emerged from both conferences. I intend to apply them during my journey of transformation and building my business.

This week I want to share my thoughts on Disruption.

I’ve noticed the focus shift from “change as the only constant” to “the age of disruption”. Some will say the very nature of the word ‘disruption’ suggests a negative experience. But is that really the case?

The gurus discuss technological disruption, social media disruption, political disruption aka Trumpism and then there is “uberisation,” the largest taxi service in the world, and the company does not own a single vehicle. Most CEOs maybe very concerned about innovative disruption, since it shows that your competition can come from anywhere.

So, the question should really be: What does disruption mean for us an individual in the environment within which we operate?

How can we proactively manage this disruption?

I believe it is a matter of perspective and mind set. During my career, even as a corporate executive, I always regarded myself as ‘Delia H Joseph Incorporated’. In my mind, I was my own company hence I placed great investment and time within myself.

My baby boomer parents thought I was crazy since as a true Generation Xer, I changed jobs almost every 4-5 years in my pursuit of learning. In their minds, I was disrupting my stable job and career. My aim, however, was to work in the field of HR in different industries; for local, regional and international companies.

During the formative years of my career, I purposely choose organisations whose operations did not involve a recognised union because, at that time, I considered Trade Unionism to be a hindrance to HR.  Seven years later and wiser, I disrupted myself into labour law and the practice of industrial relations.

Looking back, I was transformed not only by the knowledge of labour law but more importantly, strategic industrial relations. I highlighted relations because that’s the key: Human relations.

Good solid human relations almost always guaranteed my ability to partner the unions with the business units in the company which resulted in the company achieving its business objectives.

By moving within the HR field and exposing myself to different types of organizations (not always for increased compensation), I continuously disrupted myself. Those organizations would have also seen me as a disruptor since I would put into practice new ways of working together towards a common purpose.

In summary, my message for you be disrupted and change your mindset.

Adopt a learning perspective. Let disruption be the push to learn new things and grab opportunities. Launch your business. Apply for that career switch. Take that certified course. look for multiple sources of income. If you change your perspective, disruption will lead you in a much better place.