I was about to send out my post when I decided to go in a different direction - and so here was the first cut!
"Experiential capital: Do things that have a vague objective, an unknown potential for success, and an uncertain payback!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Why should you pursue uncertainty, chase vague opportunities and try and find an elusive reality? Because it might be one of the most important leadership strategies that you pursue as we go into the era of acceleration! It will help to ensure you develop the required yet unknown and undeveloped skills that you need for an uncertain future. It will enhance your balance sheet with real 21st-century capital - learn more - - about what I've come to call experiential capital!
What I've learned from watching my global client base is that those who succeed are willing to take on projects, not to win - but to learn. They are constantly working on projects that might have an uncertain return and unknown payback – but which will provide their in-depth experience and insight into some key aspects of the disruptive change that will impact them going forward. It’s by understanding change that opportunity is defined, and that’s what experiential capital happens to be - and in the future, it will be one of the most important assets you can possess.
Watch this compilation video where I'm busy on stage describing the concept of experiential capital: it gets right to the point.
In the 20th century, financial capital was the resource of choice. That doesn’t cut it anymore. Today, it’s all about skills, experience, creativity, and more. Do you have what it takes? Read my post: "Understanding 21st Century Capital: Why It's Not Just Financial Capital Anymore!"
In my book Ready, Set, Done: How to Innovate When Faster is the New Fast, I made this observation:
“Innovation comes from risk, and risk comes from experience. The most important asset today isn’t found on your balance sheet – it is found in the accumulated wisdom from the many risks that you’ve taken. The more experiential capital you have, the more you’ll succeed.”
How do you go about doing it? Play more!
Put frivolous play into your daily routine!