Taking a shower 🛁

I get tons of questions about business and reinvention, but one of them is surely the most frequent.

"How often should I reinvent?"

Here's my answer. Reinvention is like taking a shower. 

If I don't take a shower on a regular basis, I begin to stink. The same applies to our products, processes, leadership practices, and business models. And the same for our careers and competencies: if we don't reinvent on a regular basis, we begin to stink.

So, how do we take a metaphorical shower? How can we reinvent regularly - before we are forced to do so by COVID-19, new competitors, new bosses, new regulations, new customer expectations.

Here are my three secrets to making reinvention a habit.

Secret #1: Allocate specific "protected" time to reinvent

You know the drill: if it's not on our calendar as a "I am not canceling this," or a must-have, it will simply not get done. We have to put things on a calendar, we have to allocate time that is protected, "untouchable", separate from all other agenda items.

If you add reinvention to your regular meeting agenda, I guarantee you will not get far, as the type of thinking required for high-quality reinvention cannot be achieved in a "fire-fighting" mode of a typical meeting.

So, to make reinvention a habit, add it to your calendar and guard that time slot like a hawk.

Secret #2: Make it fun

Everyone is facing a huge amount of change recently, and we are all suffering from change fatigue.

The only way to deal with that (other than rest) is to make your reinvention efforts fun.

Host a Reinvention Breakfast with donuts or beer night, bring fun examples, make it light.

This cannot be another "endless agenda" meeting we cannot wait to escape. It must be fun - because when we have fun, we want more of it, naturally. That's the only way to make reinvention a no-brainer personal or organizational habit.

Secret #3: Don't suffer alone

Let's face it: reinvention is a very lonely job. People hate you - so you hear things like "don't rock the boat", "who do you think you are", "we've always done it this way") on the daily. Emotions run high. The pressure to produce a relevant idea and then bring it all the way to fruition is intense. 

So, when reinventing, it's more important than ever to have a strong group of people who will stand by you, share your burden, have your back.

Sometimes you can create such a "bubble of sanity" inside your organization. Sometimes you have to find your tribe on the outside. Whichever route you go, invest in a community that truly cares - and you can weather any storm.

I hope these three ideas resonate with you.

And if you want to experience all three, we'd love to have you in our 5-day free live Easy Reinvention Lab, which takes place April 26-30th.

All it takes is about an hour a day with our live sessions and workbooks for five days - and if you miss a session, a replay will be available.

More than 500 people participated in the first Lab with huge results. If you participated before, you can take another "shower" with us - or share with others. Grab your spot here>>>

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Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva helps companies such as Coca-Cola, Kohler, and IBM turn change and disruption into an opportunity.

Want to join our amazing reinvention community? Grab this FREE 85-page preview of my new book and you are in: https://www.learn2reinvent.com/handbook

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