{"id":39547,"date":"2020-10-12T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2020-10-12T05:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strtgy.design\/articles\/the-fire-inside\/"},"modified":"2020-10-12T07:00:26","modified_gmt":"2020-10-12T05:00:26","slug":"the-fire-inside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strtgy.design\/en\/strtgy-notes-en\/the-fire-inside\/","title":{"rendered":"The fire inside"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey, happy Monday, how are you?<\/span><\/p>\n

There is one thing that is really bothering me and I wanted to talk to you about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are 80 days left until the end of the year. What’s done is done, if you want to fix some numbers you have very little time. <\/span><\/p>\n

What you can do now is to stop distracting yourself and focus on the fire inside, not the smoke you see in the distance.<\/b><\/p>\n

That is not innovation<\/h2>\n

That is distraction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amazon launches this one. Facebook launches this other. Elon Musk did this. Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world. This startup uses drones to do this. These students did this thing with augmented reality. This cell phone bends. This screen rolls up. This bank assesses the global impact of cryptocurrency… <\/span><\/p>\n

Not to mention those nauseating carousels on Instagram and those made PDFs on LinkedIn that explain how to do anything in 5+1 steps.<\/span><\/p>\n

Explain to me, how has the time invested in reading these things improved your results?<\/b><\/p>\n

That is not innovation. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is a business model designed to take advantage of one of the most valuable things you have. <\/span><\/p>\n

Attention.<\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

Your ability to focus on the things that really matter, the things that change the numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can’t just go to your boss and say, “Hey look what [company name] just did! That’s so cool! Are we doing that too?” It doesn’t work that way. <\/span><\/p>\n

Your context, your customers, the culture and skills of your team, the resources you have available, the laws… it all changes!<\/span><\/p>\n

It is different to read a book that goes deep and explains to you the mechanics, the whys and wherefores of things (not all books I must admit). <\/span><\/p>\n

But you can save the enormous amount of daily distractions by stopping investing your time in the<\/span>‘innovation of others…<\/b> Is just smoke in the distance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Protect your fire<\/h2>\n

You recognize someone who is just “informed” when in the middle of a speech they tell you “ah, yes I’ve seen this before, this thing has been done already [company name]…”<\/span><\/p>\n

As if having read a blog, by osmosis, has transferred skills and confers the authority to put out the fire inside you.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a big difference between being informed and being competent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those who are only informed stop at the surface of things and throw the smoke grenade to distract you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those who are competent help turn your fire into kinetic energy. You will always be able to measure how far you have moved forward. <\/span><\/p>\n

Always protect your fire.<\/b><\/p>\n

Beyond working from home<\/h2>\n

For many companies, this pandemic has accelerated a major shift in work culture. Value is no longer created in offices. <\/span><\/p>\n

We allowed customers and employees to work in our kitchens, in our living rooms, in our children’s bedrooms. With sacrifice, but with success, we participated in the largest remote working experiment in history. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, I speak for us, who can work with the computer, and I have great respect for those who, every day, continued to go out on the field anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I write I look at the numbers and realize that we have the same counts as in March. Almost 6,000 in one day. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sebastian Messina on <\/span>Rep:\u20ac<\/span><\/a> headlines <\/span>“The double front of fear in the country that doesn’t want to fail”<\/b> and quotes Fabio Picchi of Cibreo who would immediately seek the nearest convent if the government ordered a new lockdown.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no need for any convent. <\/span><\/p>\n

What happened to that binge of webinars, free courses, digital solidarity… ?<\/b><\/p>\n

Beyond working from home, how has your business model changed?<\/b><\/p>\n

Yes it’s true, Amazon in a store that doesn’t exist yet, <\/span>makes you pay with the palm of your hand<\/span><\/a>, but in your company what has changed?<\/span><\/p>\n

Google changes icons and name<\/span><\/a> Because he has already figured out where this is going. From GSuite, a comfortable and elite place, to Workplace, your workplace. Period. And in your company, what has changed? <\/span><\/p>\n

Tesla <\/span>fires its PR department<\/span><\/a> and becomes the first automotive brand not to talk to the press. And so what? In your company, what has changed? <\/span><\/p>\n

No one wants to fail. <\/span>Focus on the fire inside you.<\/b><\/p>\n

Pass your fire<\/h2>\n

Unfortunately, it often happens to me, too, that when I look for examples to explain certain concepts I end up talking about a non-Italian, ultra-famous company. <\/span><\/p>\n

I do this for two reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first is that by quoting it, in the small space of a newsletter, I can avoid explaining the business model and get right to the point. But I can assure you that when I do, I never just leave you with a link thrown in there, rather I explain in full what happened and why it is important to you. As in this note <\/span>(No. 22)<\/span><\/a> In which I talked about SpaceX or in this one in which I talked about the founder of Zoom <\/span>(No. 36)<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second is that it is difficult to find a space in Italy that collects testimonials and case studies of those who successfully apply these new methodologies, and the business literature here is what it is.<\/span><\/p>\n

I want to change things, and if you’re here I’m sure you do too.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you have worked on strategic innovation or disruptive innovation projects in your career, I would like to be able to gather your experience.<\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

If you are implementing or have implemented one of these methodologies in the past, <\/b>it does not matter whether successfully or unsuccessfully because both perspectives are useful<\/span><\/p>\n