Crossing borders can be exciting and productive times. Not just found in travel but also for transitions. Graduations, promotions, changes of venue, and jobs all represent changing points of view. And you do not even have to go anywhere physically to change your point of view. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Individuals born in the latter years of the baby boom (1957-64) held an average of 12.4 jobs from ages 18 to 54, with the average worker currently holding ten different positions before age forty, One thing is certain, we are all in a fairly constant state of flux. And according to the wisdom literature, this has always been the case.
Creative outliers take risks, are willing to be different and divergent, and can also be impulsive as well as be willing to dare to fail. This means we cross a lot of borders, and do not like to stay in silos. We frequently find ourselves at the edges of established fields because that is where all of the action is and where all of the change occurs.
The current trend of rolling up industries where large entities purchase smaller ones, often as a means to acquire innovation or talent, can get into trouble due to the culture clashes between the acquirers and the acquired. The current pandemic is also wreaking havoc organizationally as well as economically, making it very difficult for many enterprises to continue previously successful behaviors.
Perhaps this is a good time for creative outliers to show society where to go and what to do, for clearly the decision-makers of the world are a bit fuzzy about what makes sense. There is clearly a gap between innovators who believe they have some ideas about what to do and decision-makers who are vainly attempting to de-risk everything.
In short, these dangerous times are Transition Opportunities where creative outliers can transition into becoming innovators by having their insights adopted. This is not very likely to occur by creatives telling decision-makers what to do, which means it is an excellent time to model innovative behavior.
Right now, most of the decision-makers in the world are fairly clueless about how to create a new hybrid virtual and in-person workplace. Some may attempt to leap into a virtual future, and some may attempt to return to the in-person past. Both of these approaches will fail as people need to be in touch with each other, but economically, virtual organizations’ advantages are too large to ignore.
If you have some creative ideas about where we should go forth together in a hybrid manner, now is the time to go out and do it and show the rest of the world what tomorrow will look and feel and sound like. Dare to fail. Take some chances. The barriers to entry for starting something up are lower than they have ever been.