Tag: osu

You Are the Disruption

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As I’m sure you’ve heard, disruption is the groovy thing to be in. VCs dream of it (the success part anyway), designers and developers are pushing to make it happen. I have a little different take.

You are the disruption.

I’m really sick of hearing about the latest and greatest gadget that will revolutionize life as we know it. Disruption and advancement are great, but if we don’t see a change in human behavior, it will be a complete and utter waste of time.

Humans are moving backwards, technology is moving forward = not sustainable.

What is being left in the dust are the choices of life. I really wish the schools would require courses in life management. Imagine what an impact that would be! No judgements here, but we suck at making good-to-great choices. I think average would describe our best day.

Ok, I’m ranting! Now, let me give you a concrete example:

Diabetes is near epidemic in the U.S., Type 2 most applicable here. The diagnosis of the disease is typically related to obesity. The main causes are rooted in diet choices and lifestyle (sedentary behavior) choices. These choices are cannot be separated from the outcomes (heart disease, stroke, cancer, and amputations). Ironically, we refuse to turn around.

I sat in a meeting with the head of diabetes research for a large university a few weeks back. In that meeting, the development of a pill to combat the accumulation of visceral fat was described. If you didn’t know it, visceral fat is the killer fat because it accumulates around our organs. In so many ways, the research is focused on developing a pill to fix what we refuse to do for ourselves. We’ve seen the enemy.

So here’s a real disruption; join me in making choices that shake up ourselves. No more blaming the President, the tea party, our parents, our employer, you get what I mean. You might even start a ripple.

This is a big deal, friends.

 

Does Your Corporate Team Look Like Urban Meyer’s?

Since the Buckeyes kicked-off their season last weekend, I wanted to re-post this again.

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I live on a planet where Urban Meyer is the head coach for the Ohio State University Buckeyes football team. To say that people around here are excited would be an understatement. They see him as a winner (2 national championships) and someone who will do many great things for the program. Reasonable thinking would say that's the right view. But this post isn't about collegiate football. It's about your company/organization.

Does your corporate team look like Urban's?

I'm amazed at how many senior leaders virtually worship coaches and sports teams like OSU, and yet structure their teams in way that is contrary to the winning principles of those people and organizations. And before you say the two are different, think of how many times a senior leader, marketing dept., HR uses the word "team." 

I know you can't duplicate exactly the model of a football team, but think about the following:

  • Every football team (pro included) has a coaching staff. They also have managers, but they're usually the ones responsible for making sure the Gatorade tanks are full.
  • Every football team practices. This doesn't happen at an event for two days or when a course shows up in their email inbox.
  • Every football team makes it a priority to be in game shape. This includes physical, mental and emotional.
  • Every football team makes it a priority to know their competition.
  • Every football team strives for a goal that is much bigger than the individuals who comprise the team.

Wouldn't it be cool to see an organization structure themselves like a real team? Where the fruit of a real team comes alive. Think of all the stakeholders who would benefit in this kind of structure. Think of how much more sense corporate life would make.

If there are any senior leaders or corporate boards out there who see this as complete nonsense, then how about getting rid of the the word team? A little honesty would go a long way here.