"Interesting" Times

Business commentators, in person or text, often roll out this (water) chestnut: “There is an ancient Chinese curse: ‘May you live in interesting times.’” Maybe that truly is a Chinese curse. Maybe it is something someone found in a fortune cookie after having had a bad reaction to MSG. The point the commentators are trying to make is that while “interesting” is often thought of in the sense of being engaging (“This is an interesting book”), in the curse, “interesting” is meant in a context of “troubling” due to the overall, overwhelming complexity of the situation.

Nowadays, with the economy in the tank, as companies even as seemingly bullet-proof as Microsoft having had to eliminate jobs, it seems as though these are the times of the curse. And make no mistake, things are exceedingly troubling.

But there is a problem with thinking as though “now” is the time of troubles, and that there are but a few points in time like this. The issue is that it allows us to think that there are particular periods that require our best efforts and attention, and that for the rest of the time the status quo is more than sufficient. When the times get “interesting,” then our response is to do what we know, which is to do what we’ve always done. Chances are, the reason things have become “interesting” is simply because conditions have changed such that what we have always done is insufficient to deal with the differences. Yet what is the default? What is the “safe” thing to do? What we’ve always done.

We need to always have a bias for change. A bias for action. A bias for doing things, performing things, learning things that are different. This doesn’t mean—doesn’t necessarily mean—wholesale overthrowing of everything. But it does mean that there must be on-going incremental adjustments that are, ideally, improvements. “Ideally,” because although no one likes to admit it, there are missteps along the way and failures in any endeavor are to be if not counted on, then at least expected. Let’s face it: even Steve Jobs has a bad day every now and then.

In the realm of product development, to bring out another chestnut that is arguably more of a truism than the aforementioned, this one attributed to Woody Allen, “If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative.” No one wants to fail, but stuff happens—and sometimes it’s magical stuff.

In these “interesting” times there is a tendency for people to take on a bunker mentality. They keep their heads down. They try to be invisible, with hopes that when the cardboard boxes are distributed they’ll be missed and won’t have to pack up their desks. They do what is “expected” of them. They avoid risk at all costs. They are the ones that probably aren’t providing the value they should . . . and they are the ones who will probably be shown the door.

In a few weeks we’re holding the first Time Compression Conference and Exposition. You can learn more about it here: www.timecompressionexpo.com. Could there be a more “interesting” time to start something new? We don’t think so. Come check it out and see if we’re right.