"Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision 
for the limits of the world."   -- Schopenhauer

Highly successful and admired individuals and organizations are frequently thought of as being open-minded, integrative, and expansive. In addition, they often display potent "dualities" in their approach, being visionary and data-driven, courageous and humble, innovative and disciplined, independent-thinking and collaborative, and willful and caring. Nelson Mandela and Warren Buffet are excellent examples of these characteristics in individuals, while IKEA and Toyota (despite recent challenges) display many of these characteristics as organizations.

Though most strive to be like this, as either individuals or organizations, only a few actually achieve it. This happens not due to issues of intelligence, typically, but to one's innate inner triangle of ego (my point of view), instinct (hierarchy and turf), and immediacy (current products/this quarter) constraining both perspective and fluidity. This makes seeing, driving, and responding to inevitable advances more difficult, and when response does occur, more delayed. 

The cognitive predicament described here can be visualized as "thinking inside the triangle" -- the Expert | Hierarchy | Products triangle as shown to the right. (Note: products include "service products" -- financial, medical, educational, etc.). Breaking out of this triangle requires a major shift in mindset we call the Triple Leap -- to the Evolver | Architecture | Business Model mindset, where sustainable growth and success -- and more fun -- are mutually achievable. Here's a summary of how this shift works:

Talent Leap:       '     Expert Mindset: I am my point of view     ->  Evolver Mindset: I can see multiple POVs
Organization Leap:  Hierarchy Mindset:  My role/title are key  ->  Architecture Mindset:  The system is key
Strategy Leap:         Products Mindset: We are our products   ->  Business Model Mindset: We are value creators
  
The benefits of this shift are extensive, including less worker conflict, more creativity, less executive politics, more customer focus, less market myopia, and more entrepreneurism. To find out more about making the leap and its benefits, please read on.  

>> THE TALENT LEAP  -  From an Expert Mindset to an Evolver Mindset:  Talent development in a leader or professional occurs not in a smooth, linear process, but through a series of predictable and distinct stages, each with a unique mindset that profoundly shapes one's self-view, worldview, mental capacity, and adaptability. An excellent example of the power of this transition is how Nelson Mandela, after making the leap from idealistic rebel (Expert) to pragmatic diplomat (Evolver), was able to help bring about historic change in South Africa. Other examples of Evolvers include Warren Buffet and, historically, Abraham Lincoln. Unfortunately, most of today's talent development programs attempt to add skill on top of  a participant's Expert mindset. Because many Evolver skills directly conflict with the underlying heroic mindset of the Expert, only incremental improvement is often possible, and some skills hardly "stick" at all. In contrast, our program -- Making the Leap - from Expert to Evolver -- focuses on facilitating a shift from an Expert mindset to an Evolver mindset. Based on the seminal thinking about human development by Piaget, Maslow, Kohlberg,  Kegan, and others, this shift in mindset opens up a vast new capacity for growth, enabling transformational improvement. As a result, skill training can be more successful as well as less necessary because many desirable leadership skills and behaviors come naturally to Evolvers. See more, including our workshop agenda, in our Expert-to-Evolver Brochure.

>> THE ORGANIZATION LEAP  -  From a Hierarchical Mindset to an Architectural Mindset:  The hierarchical ("org chart") orientation that many have of their organization is mentally confining in no less than three ways: 1) It is insular as it does not include customers; 2) It can be demotivating to workers as it depicts them on the bottom; and 3) It excludes many critical elements such as strategy, culture, processes, infrastructure, etc. A more expansive architectural approach, on the other hand, can vastly raise the performance of a firm through including and integrating its many elements (strategy, culture, mission, leadership, structure, processes, learning, etc.) into a lean and efficient customer-focused system. An example of a game-changing business architecture is IKEA's customer-as-partner architecture, where the customer picks it out, picks it up, takes it home, and puts it together -- getting stylish home products at a low price. Other examples include FedEx's hub-and-spoke logistics architecture, Southwest Airlines' no-frills-yet-friendly architecture, and Google's "everyone innovates" architecture. See examples of our approach at Innovative Organizations, Organizational Barriers, and our book Mastering Organizational Architecture.

>> THE STRATEGY LEAP  -  From a Product Mindset to a Business Model Mindset:  Because products (including service products) are the most concrete aspect of customer value, the strategies of many firms focus very narrowly on product innovation at the expense of more sustainable advantage-building opportunities in business model innovation. What is a business model? It is product design plus much more -- the design of the entire value-creating system and how value is charged for (the profit formula). For example, Apple's "cool-multimedia" business model includes not only sexy devices (Macs, iPhones, iPods, and iPads), but also their iTunes content sales-distribution system along with their Euro-style retail stores with convenient access to helpful geeks at their Genius Bar. Other examples of business model innovators are Google via its profit formula based on advertising and Amazon.com and eBay via their seamless relationships with sourcing partners. Learn more in our book Envisioning Business, where the value-creating systems of entire industries are revealed, including their trajectories for future expansion and reconfiguration.

THE TRIPLE LEAP = Talent + Organization + Strategy:  As you likely already see, much interdependence exists among talent, organization, and strategy. An innovative business model strategy must be architected into a high performing organization that is populated with visionary yet collaborative and ethical talent. However, you can start with any of the three initiatives, and work to the others. Once you understand one, the mindset and role of the others quickly become obvious. 

How we can help:  To assist individuals and organizations in understanding, envisioning, and making these leaps, we offer workshops, consulting, coaching, and books. And because "leaping" inevitably requires vision, we utilize a highly visual methodology to actively engage your right brain's powerful ability to cut through complexity and entrenched thinking. This helps you more accurately visualize where you are today and paths that lead forward. Our methodology is, thus, well positioned to help you "look before you leap!"

 
Organization and Talent/Personal Development Books by Kampas Research: (click on covers)

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