WHY I AM NOT GOING TO TRADE MARK THIS

I still remember the moment.

I was working on this new free knowledge platform that still did not have a name.

We all knew that it is desperately needed - after all, the demand for helping companies and non-profits to survive disruption was so high, that we had to say "no" to most requests for help.

We knew it was time to make our knowledge and tools public and radically accessible.

But we did not know how to describe it.

So, Mark Levy, our positioning extraordinaire, asked me: "If what you do in companies had a title, what would it be?"

That was a tough one.

I went through a list one by one.

Chief Innovation Officer? No, my job is also about protecting the old...

Chief Transformation Officer? We are so tired of the word transformation - and it so rarely produces results!

Chief Strategy Officer? But what about implementation...

And then it just came out. Chief Reinvention Officer.

Mark stopped for a second (he is a very tough critic, so I was bracing for impact).

And then he said: "I think you should purchase the URL today."

And that was it.

Exactly 5 years ago, Fall 2014, we made history.

By January 2015, our first reinvention manifesto was published.

By April 2015 I was already speaking on TEDx stage on why companies need Chief Reinvention Officers and countries must establishing Ministries of Reinvention.

By summertime, our lawyers were already asking us to trademark.

And my answer was as non-negotiable as it was swift.

No.

We are NOT going to trademark this.

Chief Reinvention Officer is a title meant to be used - by as many people as possible.

So, absolutely not!

And imagine my surprise when that simple vision came to live?!

First, I changed my own title to Chief Reinvention Officer.

Then my amazing colleagues and students took a plunge:

Then, courageous business owners-plus-executives took on the title:

And the government showed up, too:

What in the world did we just start?!

A revolution.

And now it’s your turn to try on this title.

Without anybody’s invitation.

Without permission.

Become a Chief Reinvention Officer of your own life.

In a world where you are expected to change 3 careers and 15 jobs per life, the one thing that will stay constant is reinvention.

So, make it yours. 

Turn change and disruption into an opportunity.

Make reinvention your superpower, your core competence, your shield against the uncertainty and volatility.

And that’s exactly where the newest video from our end takes us.

Grab this title.

Make it yours.

Watch:

The question is: is there anything is stopping you today?