Revolution Factory | Empowering Agents of Change

Empowering Agents of Change

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The trap of satisfaction

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I recently heard an exec say to his team, “The products good enough to go to market, and we need to get it to market.”

In times like these, satisfaction is a trap

There are times when people will create a product or service that doesn’t solve a problem. Yet, they are satisfied enough with the product and will push it into the market anyway.

There are times when people will pass something off as “innovative” or “new” when really they just copied it from someone else to give the perception of innovation.

Satisfaction is a trap we all fall into one time or another. If Edison had been satisfied, then he would not have spent day in and day out on his hands and knees changing out filament after filament until he was able to bring his vision to life.

For me, the biggest hurdle is the lack of commitment to something bigger than ourselves. It is up to us to want something different and be willing to explore it; to not be satisfied with what we have; to push our stakeholders (and our shareholders) to not create an environment of hyperbolic discounting, but to create space for a more substantial reward. One that everyone can say, “I was a part of this.” One where people are truly satisfied.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

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It is effortless to come into a conversation and feel like you need to have all the answers. It doesn’t matter if you are the CEO of a startup, part of a team in a larger organization, or even talking to your partner. Part of our roles, and I would argue that it is also our responsibility to know what we don’t know.

Seek to Understand: It is not the answers that will drive the decision-making. What drives decision-making is having the foresight to ask the right questions at the right time. That is why seeking to understand what we don’t know is so vital in order to obtain the correct information or knowledge to more forward.

Know That No One Really Knows: Many times, we answer a question with only a minimal amount of information or just through the assumptions we have. The thing is, we are not alone. Many folks do this each day and many times a day. Consider ways to mitigate that. Whether it is testing those assumptions or realizing collectively that the future isn’t here yet and that a unified path forward is really your starting point, be honest with what you don’t know and create a critical way to identifying what it is that you need to know.

Can we help you with anything? Feel free to contact us. We are happy to help.

The Paths We Create

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Ja-Nae in Copenhagen

Stepping around the remainder of snow and ice, I came across old railroad tracks. They were hidden from my normal path yet these tracks had been there for years. I decided to follow what remained of the tracks and found myself on an amazing jaunt through woods I had never been before. I realized a few things:

💡The paths we create don’t have to be new. There is a time to explore new frontiers; to do something different, but then there are times to walk down a path that was forged by our ancestors and served them well. Though old, though different than before, those ghosts have a lot to teach us.

💡We abandon paths too quickly without seeing what they have to offer. I could have very easily looked at those tracks and headed back down my normal route. Instead, I committed to seeing where this new path would take me.

💡We never create paths alone. We walk several paths that are interwoven by our footsteps through time. Some are walked with others for a long leg of the journey, while other parts bring new hands to hold along the way. And some are meant solely for us. But however we walk, this is our creation. These are our decisions, our triumphs, our failures, and our frontiers to explore. I look forward to creating this next leg of the path with you.

How To Make Change During This Uncertain Time

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On March 11, The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) declared the novel coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic. Every nation and every individual will be affected by this global health crisis. Whether it is being personally infected by the virus, having a friend or family member infected, or suffering from the social and economic fallout, we are literally all in this together. 

Scientists are still learning about the virus and governments and healthcare workers are struggling to fight it. But we must all do our part. There are three broad areas in which we can all play a vital role:

Social Isolation: 

All of us must embrace social distancing, but it’s really physical distancing that we’re engaged in. We must stay socially connected to fend off isolation and depression, both in ourselves and in fellow members of our community.  

Mutual Aid:

Many of our community members are going to find themselves in need of food, medicine, and other basic supplies while staying healthy and safe at home. By forming and joining local mutual aid groups, we can coordinate a full spectrum of volunteer activities. 

Neighborhood Pod: 

It’s not enough to help the people we know need the help. We must proactively reach out to our most vulnerable members so that they can communicate their needs to us. This is best facilitated through a structured neighborhood pod. 

Now is the time to come together as both a global community and a local community.

Learn how to activate your community by visiting the Revolution Factory’s  Activate Network!