How to Become a Changemaker
Understand the Fundamentals of Changemaking
Visionary change requires resilience and persistence, as true changemakers embrace risks, communicate their vision, reframe rejection, and use disappointment as motivation to refine their ideas and foster innovation within their teams.
Don’t Let Introversion Hold You Back
Introverts can thrive in the extroverted business world by embracing their strengths, pushing themselves to engage in meetings and networking, and gradually challenging their social comfort zones to succeed without compromising their natural tendencies.
Spot Market Trends to Shape the Future of Your Business
Businesses should prioritize internal trendspotting and innovation by leveraging their marketing departments, fostering a culture of discovery, and inviting external provocateurs to challenge conventional thinking, ultimately positioning marketing as a strategic driver for future growth.
Interrogate Ideas
Effective brainstorming in business innovation requires a two-phase approach: an expansive, criticism-free brainstorming session followed by "agitated inquiry," where diverse perspectives challenge ideas through structured debate to ensure sound decision-making and prevent groupthink.
A Case Study in Taking on Risky Efforts (How GE Launched Ecomagination)
In 2003, GE faced public backlash as a "Global Enemy," but through the bold leadership of Beth Comstock and Jeff Immelt, the company transformed into a proponent of "Green Energy" via the "Ecomagination" initiative, emphasizing ecological and economic benefits while fostering stakeholder engagement and accountability.
Create a Growth Board for Vetting Ideas
To cultivate a culture of innovation, organizations should establish a dedicated "growth board" that acts like an in-house venture capital team, evaluating new ideas against strategic priorities and fostering collaboration across departments to drive change and ownership among all employees.
Map Out Positive and Negative Stories of Your Future
To effectively envision future business directions, engage your team in scenario planning that balances optimism and pessimism, assigning groups to explore both best-case and worst-case outcomes, ultimately leading to a more calibrated and research-driven strategy.
A Case Study in Seeding Innovation (How NBC Started Hulu)
Successful businesses can be disrupted by their own success, but NBC's creation of Hulu illustrates how to innovate from within by establishing a challenger brand to explore new ideas and challenge outdated practices.
Leverage the Power of Story
Narrative structure is essential for businesses to connect with customers, as storytelling—embraced by all employees—clarifies the brand's mission and fosters loyalty, making it crucial to regularly practice and refine the stories behind the company, its products, and its people.
Invariably, a great idea is just the start of a process whose success depends on resilience, persistence, and ultimately, great marketing. And as former vice chair of GE Beth Comstock puts it, a “changemaker” is simply someone who’s willing to give herself permission to take the necessary risks to realize that type of vision.
Learning Objectives
- Prepare yourself to operate outside your comfort zone and rebound from failure.
- Identify trends in the marketplace.
- Develop, scrutinize, refine, and pitch ideas to address those trends.
- Forecast best- and worst-case scenarios.
- Foster healthy internal competition.