Play Chess

We must confront the two fundamental realities of the 21st century: CHANGE AND COMPLEXITY. Our ability to be agile & adaptive in this increasingly complex world will be critical to our ultimate success as a team.

BE STRATEGIC IN HOW YOU THINK AND WHAT YOU DO, EVERY DAY. Act boldly with intention and purpose, take initiative in all things. Always keep the long game top of mind, even when inevitably pulled into the urgent or tactical. Envision the board and play several steps ahead. Work smart to make the best use of your time. Anybody can work long hours, but long hours don’t necessarily equate to quality work. If we overcommit ourselves to meetings and taskings, we can get easily distracted, shifting back and forth between multiple priorities.

Being strategic is about having a clear understanding of priorities and seeking clarity from your leadership on what’s important if you are trying to juggle too many competing tasks. Leaders have a responsibility to ensure that their teams understand priorities and can effectively allocate time and resources, keeping in mind that if EVERYTHING IS A PRIORITY, THEN NOTHING IS.

Each of us must understand what is important to achieve on any given day, have a plan to accomplish those activities, and apply the necessary creative and critical thinking skills to ensure we can always deliver a high quality product.

Solutions to problems will be found at the cross-section of multiple disciplines. Give yourself the time to find those cross-sections and make those connections. We will have to be agile thinkers, to constantly adapt, to play the long game.