When the word disruption surfaces, many tend to think of a negative event that creates a hurdle we must overcome. Disruption interrupts the path we have created in our minds of what we ideally would want to happen.  

This past week reminded me there’s another side to the word disruption that promotes something we all need from time to time. It’s the disruption in our mind to the truths we’re anchored to and exploring new ways to shape our understanding of the world around us. 

This past Wednesday I had an opportunity to speak at a DisruptHR event focused on disruption, innovation, and creativity of how we can work together. 10 speakers, 10 ideas, 10 ways to think differently. Topics to disrupt ranged from anxiety to importance of addressing issues immediately to finding our favorite self. Every person attending the event showed up with their unique experiences and perspectives but what united us altogether was the willingness to challenge our current beliefs. We all signed up to disrupt our current train of thinking and explore progress.

There’s something empowering about being around a bunch of people thirsty to explore new ideas and all of us open to the belief we need to disrupt our current way of thinking. The way we get to a new destination is not anchoring to our old thoughts. It’s being willing to acknowledge new truths can be discovered to help see our world in a way we haven’t considered before. There’s power in letting go of past truths to uncover what’s ahead.

The other opportunity for disruption came during a leadership summit with our Operations area this past week. There were a couple questions that had me curious about how I needed to shake up my perspective:

• What non-negotiables do I have with my team when we’re going through change?
• What skills as a team do I feel our team needs to enhance in the next year or two?

Non-negotiables

The non-negotiable question created space to explore what we’re unwilling to give up as an expectation of our team while going through change. Change is a constant and the quicker we build a mindset to thrive through change as opposed to surviving through change, the more likely a team will grow and evolve. The list of non-negotiables can be a wide range of what each team prioritizes but the most important part of this experience was the process.

It’s the process of calling out specifics to what we expect of our team and are not willing to negotiate for a lower standard. Non-negotiables help create a clear vision and expectation with the team so that surprises during times of escalation that happen with change are minimized. Collaborating with this group of leaders provided a great opportunity to share our own experiences and perspective to shape a definitive expectation we have of teams facing change. This exercise forced me to disrupt some thoughts I had been anchored to and created ideas about how I can more effectively lead my team.

Future skills we need

Think for a minute – what skills did you prioritize 2-3 years ago? While I’m sure there are plenty of skills you still believe are important, if you’re one that has continued to grow and develop, you most likely have embraced new skills and/or elevated other skills. So, when we think a couple years into the future, what skills do we need for success? Just as 2 years ago had different needs than today, the skills and skill level two years from now will need to evolve. 

When we’re a successful team, there’s a risk of falling into complacency. It’s easy to slide into the same ways that have made us successful but if we’re preparing for our best future, we always need to keep pulse on where we can elevate our game. To get from a place of success to being ready for success a couple years from now, it takes proactively disrupting the beliefs settled on now to challenge ourselves on where to elevate our skills for the future. While it may sound strange, we need to consider disrupting what works now so that our future may hold more than what we’re capable of today.

Take your step: we need to shift our view of the word disruption from reactive to proactive. A good gauge of where we need to disrupt is when we’re feeling comfortable. It could be the workouts we’re doing, podcasts we’re listening to, projects we’re doing at work, or people we’re talking to. Comfortability is a magnet but it’s incredible what can be learned through moments of disruption. Start with identifying one part of your life where comfort has settled in and try a day or two of disruption. Be aware of what you’re learning and potentially growing from to build some more momentum disrupting areas you’ve started to settle.