Please Put on a Pink Mustache!

Accountability Growth mindset Transformation

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Key Point: A pink mustache is coming our way. I promise… It’s not “if”, but “when.” And it’s a good thing if you’ve become or are working at becoming a relentless, INVENTIVE LEARNER. You and I have to embrace the idea of constantly reinventing our applied competencies to fully participate in the most relevant conversations, and frankly contribute enough value so that we can thrive financially and otherwise. We must not only learn but translate our learning into inventive, perhaps even disruptive ways of bringing more value to others.

Have you heard of Lyft? They just received an additional $250 million dollars of seed money to aggressively expand their disruptive business model. Lyft, similar to Uber, offers a web based system to give people rides and the Lyft cars “wear” a big pink mustache on their grill.

lyftOn the way to the San Francisco airport I was in a traditional taxicab and asked the driver if his business was impacted by Lyft and Uber. “Down 50 percent almost over night,” he said. “I’m working twice as long for less money… Barely making ends meet… These guys found a loop hole in taxi regulation and we’re getting screwed…” “What are you going to do?” I ask. “I dunno…” he says.

The fact is you and I often need a ride, but as Lyft proves, we don’t need taxis by default. Most readers know I work for a bank. People need banking, but they don’t necessarily need banks. There are some “pink mustaches” coming at the banking industry. I also work in the world of human resource management. Organizations don’t necessarily need traditional HR functions and jobs. They need leaders who can help optimize the contribution from people towards a continuously evolving desired future state. If you’re in HR, look for the pink mustache on your horizon. Every industry… And subsequently, every job, is in the same boat (“car”). If you want to blow your mind more on this idea, start exploring some robotic websites.

Character Moves:

  1. Unglue your head and feet and do MORE to embrace having an inventive learner mindset. This might sound exhausting, but ideally it’s exhilarating. Do not be fearful. Just accept that you and I have to COMPLETELY reinvent our “value set” every 12 to 24 months. If you’re thinking and/or doing the same thing you were two years ago… There could be a pink mustache waiting for you over the hill. Stay true to your purpose, life mission and core values but relentlessly reinvent your personal offering to the world. How well are you doing at that today?
  2. With intention, pay more attention. Set your phone down and actually observe what’s going on around you. To come up with new ideas on how to best reinvent yourself, you need to observe the world with fresh, empathetic eyes. After you’ve taken some time to THINK and OBSERVE, pick up that phone and use it to keep a journal and document what you have observed. Do this at least once a week. This will help guide where and how you will apply that inventive learning.
  3. Be mindfully curious. ASK, “What’s going on here?” What’s going on with the value I bring to others? Questions allow for space in the brain. If you’re not curious about something, then there’s nowhere for your observations to go. As an inventive learner you should ask questions to help nail down the value you’re bringing to solve problems. Why are people paying you? For what? How could that be disrupted? Why are people attracted to you? Or not attracted? What are you giving? Taking?
  4. Allow yourself to be an explorer and experiment as you add to your personal offering. The best part of being a relentless, inventive learner is that this mindset and framework will by its nature make you more valuable. By having a process for personal value creation you will be part of designing pink mustaches, not running away from them.

Inventive learners in The Triangle,

Lorne