Blogs

Why is balance top of mind for CXOs?

Today’s post builds on ideas from Professor Roy Casagranda of Austin Community College. His 30-minute talk, “What Should Leaders Learn from History?”, discusses historical stories illustrating why a society must balance the forces of innovation and preservation. In this post, I argue that CXOs in organizations also need to manage these forces.

Why It Matters

Unleashing the innovator force unchecked can destroy what has been built, while giving too much control to the preserver force can lead to stagnation.

Professor Casagranda’s Ideas

From his talk:

“There are 2 forces throughout history that have shaped every single civilization without exception. … They’re in conflict with one another. They clash.

The first force is the innovative force. The innovative force is the force that believes that the only way to greet the future is through change. It likes change, it seeks out change. It’s a very dangerous force, especially when it’s unleashed and there’s no counterbalance to it because it’ll tear up culture and it’ll change traditions and it changes identities and it asks uncomfortable questions. By contrast, the other force is the preserving force.

The preserving force wants to not just lock things in place in this moment, it actually almost always has some amazing event from the past that it looks to as the model, not just for the present, but for the future as well.

The problem is, our species, at least for the last 12000 years, has steadily kept changing the amount of technology available… Just look at what we’ve done in the last 200 years, the last 50 years, the last 20 years. The pace of change is actually accelerated so that it’s geometric.” 

He goes on to give few examples:

  • Balance: In the last 175 years, Sweden has done an excellent job of balancing both forces. When they want to slow down change, they vote conservative; otherwise, they vote socialist.
  • Preserving Force Takeover: In 1492, the Christian preserving force reclaimed Spain from the Muslims. There was so much momentum behind this preserving force that it sought to eliminate all diversity—converting, killing, or expelling all Muslims and Jews from Spain (during the Spanish Inquisition). This force then went on to conquer the Americas, directly or indirectly resulting in the deaths of 150 million Native Americans and converting the rest to Christianity. Eventually, the preserving force lacked industry and technological innovation, culminating in the English sinking the Spanish Armada and ending the Spanish Empire.
  • Swivel from One to Another: In 1961, President Kennedy (representing the innovative force) boldly declared, “A man on the moon by the end of the decade,” setting NASA on a trajectory of rapid innovation. By 1969, the Apollo 11 mission had fulfilled this vision. However, 1969 also marked the beginning of a shift—President Nixon (representing the preserver force) took office and cut NASA’s budget. 

An example I can contribute: The U.S.-led ousting of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and Gaddafi in 2011, intended to bring democracy, plunged Iraq and Libya into chaos, sparking civil wars, insurgencies, and extremist uprisings. These unchecked interventions dismantled state institutions, leaving behind shattered economies, mass displacement, and geopolitical instability that persists to this day. This is an example of the innovator forces taking over unchecked.

He ends his talk by saying: 

“The preserver force has it wrong because the thing it is preserving was previously innovative. In other words, through the lens of history, the preserver and the innovator look the same in the past. It’s only now (in the present) that we’re upset with it and obsessed with it and freaking out. And so on that note, I ask for more balance when it comes to allowing change to happen in society.”

The Biggest Challenge for CXOs

Professor Casagranda’s examples are from geopolitics and history because that’s his area of expertise. Let’s switch the context to business. 

Take Kodak as an example—despite inventing the first digital camera (the innovators delivered), the business leaders (the preservers) clung to its film business for too long. Eventually, this led to the death of the company.

Why now: The AI disruption since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022 poses strategic risk to many industries.  However, most of these jobs — news and advertising — are fundamental human needs and hence will persist. The real question facing CXOs is what will remain of the industry after this period of upheaval?

The challenge: In times of such change, CXOs understand that the preserver stance cannot prevail. However, they recognize that it is one thing to discuss, model, and promise change, and another to actually deliver on it. A poor decision can result in the budget allocated for change being consumed without achieving any outcomes.

Operationally, navigating this landscape will be the biggest challenge that CXOs face in the next three years.

7 Tips for CXOs

Below are a few thoughts on the topic:

  1. Don’t copy: If everyone is doing it, you’re already late. For example, the New York Times started building its subscription business almost a decade before the current subscription wave.
  2. Don’t innovate for PR: If others can easily replicate your innovation, it isn’t truly innovative. For instance, adopting an off-the-shelf service and presenting it as innovation isn’t genuine. If you can buy that service, others can too.
  3. Don’t innovate on the sidelines: Some companies set up ‘innovation labs’ to carry out one-time projects and proofs of concept. However, these initiatives rarely gain mainstream traction because they lack key operational details.
  4. Don’t conflate strategy and execution: If a strategy has failed in the past, evaluate with first principles whether the issue lies in the strategy itself or in its execution.
  5. Don’t just allocate budget and time: Professor Casagranda explains that despite having equivalent budget and time in subsequent years, NASA became seven and a half times less productive. Why? The nation lacked a unifying mission or mandate like Kennedy’s. Beyond budget and time, applying the right force to the right change shapes the narrative, which drives the demand for successfully completing the transition.
  6. Don’t blame the preservers: Overtime, the innovators of the past become preservers of today. It is critical to acknowledge publicly that what got you here won’t take you there.
  7. Make the preservers auditors: In the most successful transformations, innovative and preserving forces work hand-in-hand, ensuring that disruptive ideas are tempered with operational wisdom to create sustainable growth.

Conclusion

In 2024, the challenge for CXOs will be mastering the balance between innovation and preservation. Success lies in fostering healthy competition between these forces to drive sustainable change.

– – –

Bored? I am looking to host ThinkIns — one or two long brainstorming sessions on a well-defined topic with 3-5 domain experts in the field. Which topic? Could be any. DM me. Exquisite green tea or coffee is on me.

Want to republish it? This post was released under CC BY-ND — you can republish it as is with the following credit and backlinks: ‘Originally published by Ritvvij Parrikh on The Times of India. The author retains the copyright and any other ancillary rights to the post.



Linkedin


Disclaimer

Views expressed above are the author’s own.



END OF ARTICLE




Source link

Online Editor - Valley Vision

Welcome to Valley Vision News, where Er Ahmad Junaid leads our team in delivering real news in both English and Urdu. We're your go-to source for independent coverage, focusing on stories from around the globe, with a spotlight on India and Jammu and Kashmir. From breaking news to in-depth analysis, we've got you covered. Join us on our journey to stay informed and empowered. Join with us at Valley Vision News.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button