Introduction
I recently watched the movie, Lucy. I enjoyed it so much, once finished, I was about to watch it again. The next day I asked my family to watch it with me.
The idea captured me: What would we do if we could utilize a higher percentage of our brain? What would You do?
In the movie, the message was loud and clear: pass the knowledge on. Lucy finally could use 100% of her brain capacity instead of 10% as a normal human. She understood the connections between the dots and remembered them. She wanted to contribute to the civilization she lived and died in. So she passed it on.
Summary
What is the highest value you can create in your personal life and in your organization (Startup, Solo, SMB, Corporate, Non-Profit, Government)?
Contribution. The impact you and your team generates. If you work on something bigger than you, you become a bigger: leader, team player. And you enjoy your life and work more. It becomes a hobby. Thank you, Lucy.
How can you contribute?
In Ikigai - the Japanese concept of finding purpose in life - it is visualized beautifully. You need to be clear with all 4 aspects of your life.
If you realize what you are good at (gifted), you can improve and build on your strengths. If you discover what you love doing (keen), you will enjoy the (flow) moments when you create something uniquely you. If you understand what the world needs and you can give it to others, you will be well respected. If you do what you can be paid for, you will have the wealth you deserve. Any of the 4 would make you happy or unhappy. But if you find their X, you can live and die fulfilled, and you can pass on what you collected during your journey.
Contribute.
How can your organization contribute?
This can be very similar to the personal Ikigai. I developed a framework that translates it into for-profit and non-profit organizations. I call it LACIX.
Leadership + Automation + Customer Experience + Innovation = ExtraOrdinary Contribution. Let’s start from the beginning.
Innovation
If you start from your values, vision, do a SWOT analysis and a bit of market research - you quickly realize that your organization’s capabilities are limited (by birth or by choice). Just like a person, the organization is born to be good at some things based on the founders, partners, team, and the customers they serve. These capabilities are limited.
But if you choose to Innovate, your Curiosity becomes Imagination. That becomes Experiments. That becomes Experience. That becomes Knowledge. That becomes Wisdom.
So you make informed decisions and you contribute to higher goals. Your organization's intelligence improves with each learning experience. Just like Lucy, you utilize a higher percentage of your organization’s capacity.
Leadership
Leadership is all about priorities. You choose to do something and you are strong enough not to do the rest. Like Warren Buffet’s to-do list.
1. Collect all you want to do.
2. Select the top three.
3. Ignore the rest.
But you can choose and stand by your choices only if you love what you do. That is your North Star. Whom you want to be and whom you want to be seen and remembered. If your organization doesn’t have clear goals and priorities, then every decision you make is dependent on the situation. You and your team drifts. So do in your team what you love doing. And find people who enjoy doing the rest.
Automation
What the world needs is often not sexy. Teamwork is actually not about the victories, but about the daily consistent listening, grinding, and negotiations.
Communication. Actions. Communication. Actions. What the world needs is consistent delivery of activities towards pre-set goals that are clear. Automation can provide this. In the LACIX framework, we teach leads and teams to be goal-oriented and consistent.
We help them go through the forming/storming/norming/performing stages. So they can fulfill their potential. Not just processes and systems can be automated. Humans as well. It is called habits. If you repeat good habits they compound into extraordinary results. So you can contribute without stress.
Customer Experience
Everyone in your organization is a customer. They have roles like, partners, market players, regulators, team members, paying customers. But at the end of the day, they exchange value with you. So you get what you can be paid for. I suggest you focus on every conversation, conflict, and negotiation as improving the value for the customer(s). How can we solve a valuable problem for a customer?
Conclusion
What is the highest value you can create in your personal life and in your organization (Startup, Solo, SMB, Corporate, Non-Profit, Government)? Contribution. You can contribute personally as a leader and as a team, to something useful, meaningful, that is well defined and desired. So you don’t drift but achieve your goals.
But because you will focus on the flow of your capabilities, priorities, activities, and relationships… chose carefully where you find your or your organization’s X-factor(y).
About the Author
Laszlo Csite is a business coach who helps gifted and keen leaders and teams to be extraordinary and fulfil their potential. He is also a digital product owner, who helps great ideas to grow into admired digital/physical products.
If you learn, enter a new field, want to grow, acquire, transform or exit successfully - using proven methods can save you time and frustration.
When you are ready, I can CONTRIBUTE to your success with my 24 years of consulting experience and my carefully selected network of professionals.
You can contact me for a complimentary chat or feedback on my articles here: lacix.co