Would You Rather Choose the Path of Preservation or Innovation?

Have you ever played the game “Would You Rather? It’s a game where you ask the question;  “Would you rather do X or Y?” It is usually a younger, more “silly” crowd that plays it . . . like my own kids when they were teenagers. They could entertain themselves for hours with outlandish “would you rather” scenarios!

I recently was at a conference where Andy Moore was speaking and he challenged the crowd with the statement; “we can take a path of preservation or a path of innovation. You cannot do both. You must choose one or the other.

This really made me think about business leaders and the seemingly innocuous decisions that we make every day that shapes our destiny and the destiny of our businesses and our employees.

Any business that chooses to take the path of preservation rather than the path of innovation will die. Preservation may seem like the safe path because it is the path of least resistance. It may be the path that is the least painful up front. However, it is the path to irrelevancy and decay.

Preservation = Death

What do you think about when you think of the word preservation? Treated lumber is preserved. Petrified wood is preserved. Fossils are preserved. Mammoths are preserved. Egyptian mummies are preserved. And all these preserved things are dead! The path of preservation inevitably ends in death.

There is no future in the status quo. There is no future in preservation!

Innovation = Hope!

Ideas and Stuff Podcast!

Thinking Business

This week’s book summary is a podcast link. I was recently featured on the “Ideas and Stuff” podcast episode 50! We covered a lot of ground in about 30 minutes, including:

  • Vision, Mission, Values
  • BHAG
  • Strategy
  • Goals
  • Managing risk
  • Business failure
  • 15 Minute Business Blueprint
  • Mastermind Groups

Check it out here and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Tools of Titans

The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers

This week’s book review is Tools of Titans by Timothy Ferriss


Ferriss has compiled an extensive volume of advice from an impressive cast of high profile people on topics loosely categorized into health, wealth, and wisdom. Ferriss lives his life like “one big human experiment” and this book captures his experiences while leveraging the collective wisdom of all those who have influenced and impacted his life.

There is a ton of interesting material and wisdom in this book! There will also be some material that you do not find valuable . . . but that is the point of the book. You learn from what you can and ignore the rest!

My takeaway from this book is that I need to take more risks and challenges to grow in more areas. I also need to get a handle on cyber security and how it is impacting me and how it will impact me.

How to Thrive in a World of Monumental Change

We are all aware that the world around us is changing very quickly. In fact, the rate of change is continually accelerating. As a result, individuals, organizations, businesses and even entire cultures are struggling to keep up.

Furthermore, as business leaders, we can no longer assume that the market space we occupy today will be the same market space that we occupy in six months. Products and services that we offer and the technology that we use today will be obsolete tomorrow!

Renowned authors, Alvin and Heidi Toffler’s book entitled “Revolutionary Wealth” provides innovative ideas on how changes in society, government, culture and business are transforming our lives in this century. Especially relevant, the Tofflers have compared the rates of change of major institutions in North America to cars speeding along on a highway. They have rated nine institutions with a “change” rate of speed between 0 and 100 miles per hour as follows:

2 Sure Fire Ways to Build an Organization of Growth Minded People

…your personal growth is proportional to the number of risks you take plus the number of relationships you build.Jesse Tevelow

It is probably safe to say that most people want to improve their “lot in life” in some way. Whether it is a new house, new car, new clothes, more money, different city, different country, different career, different business or a million other motivators, most people have some sort of drive for personal growth and improvement.

What many people don’t realize is that the likelihood for success of this drive for personal growth is directly proportional to risks you take and the relationships you make. If you want to grow, you must always be pushing boundaries – taking a risk or building relationships or both.