The Comfort Zone today is just an illusion. Perhaps in the past you could stay safe in your Comfort Zone for several years. But in the VUCA world we live today, your Comfort Zone will be destroyed faster that you have a plan. Some people today feel safe in places that will soon become a war zone.
If you are not familiar with VUCA, it means:
“V = Volatility: the nature and dynamics of change, and the nature and speed of change forces and change catalysts.”
“U = Uncertainty: the lack of predictability, the prospects for surprise, and the sense of awareness and understanding of issues and events.”
“C = Complexity: the multiplex of forces, the confounding of issues, no cause-and-effect chain and confusion that surrounds organization.”
“A = Ambiguity: the haziness of reality, the potential for misreads, and the mixed meanings of conditions; cause-and-effect confusion.”
We do not have much control over the events that are happening in the world. Thus, I recommend that you should feel less comfortable. A relevant book about this topic is “Only the Paranoid Survive” by Andy Grove, founder and former CEO of Intel. He writes in his book about the concept of Strategic Inflection Points. According to Grove:
“A strategic inflection point is when the balance of forces shifts from the old structure, from the old ways of doing business and the old ways of competing, to the new. Before the strategic inflection point, the industry simply was more like the old. After it, it is more like the new. It is a point where the curve has subtly but profoundly changed, never to change back again.”
“When an industry goes through a strategic inflection point, the practitioners of the old art may have trouble. On the other hand, the new landscape provides an opportunity for people, some of whom may not even be participants in the industry in question, to join and become part of the action.”
“When a strategic inflection point sweeps through the industry, the more successful a participant was in the old industry structure, the more threatened it is by change and the more reluctant it is to adapt to it. Second, whereas the cost to enter a given industry in the face of well-entrenched participants can be very high, when the structure breaks, the cost to enter may become trivially small.”
Another relevant book is “Who Moved My Cheese?” by dr. Spencer Johnson. The text describes the way one reacts to major change in one’s work and life. These are the main conclusions:
Change Happens
They Keep Moving The Cheese
Anticipate Change
Get Ready For The Cheese To Move
Monitor Change
Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old
Adapt To Change Quickly
The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese
Change
Move With The Cheese
Enjoy Change!
Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese!
Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again
They Keep Moving The Cheese.
Now, a question:
“What motivates you: growth or comfort?”
I think that each individual is multi-dimensional: At any particular moment in life, in some aspects I want to grow and in other aspects I just want some comfort.
Thus, for example, at the same time that I want to make more money in my business I may want to spend less time with my friends and more time with my wife and children.
Please feel free to share in the comments below about your personal opinion or experiences.
