Change is universal and inevitable. Change
is disorienting. Change clouds your horizons and paralyzes your courage. Today’s
ever-increasing pace of change is relentless. “Humans really struggle with
change, especially, change we did not choose,” shares April Rinne,
author of the new book, FLUX, 8 Superpowers For Thriving In Constant Change.
“To
thrive in this world in flux, we need to radically reshape our relationship to uncertainty
and flip the script to sustain a healthy and productive outlook,” explains
April. Fortunately, her new book shows you how to do exactly that, and how to
help others do so too.
Part
personal guidebook, part strategic roadmap, Flux provides a refreshingly
new take on how to navigate change by using the Theory of Flux and
developing eight Flux Superpowers.
The
Theory of Flux:
Step
1: Open a Flux Mindset
Step
2: Use your Flux Mindset to unlock
the eight Flux Superpowers
Step
3: Apply your Flux Superpowers to
write your New Script
The
superpowers are your essential disciplines and practices that are fit for a
world in flux, and are to be applied into your life – each explained by April
in the book:
1. Run
Slower. It enhances your productivity.
2. See
What’s invisible. Seeing what most people don’t look helps you get ahead of
problems.
3. Get
Lost. Stretching beyond your comfort zone fast tracks your creativity.
4. Start
with Trust. Mistrust breeds inequity and kills curiosity. Trust begets trust.
5. Know
Your “Enough.” Then you can discover a sustainable, flexible, and content
future for yourself.
6. Create
Your Portfolio Career. Treat your career as a portfolio of experiences and
skills.
7. Be
All the More Human (and Serve Other Humans). Use your humanity to help
others.
8. Let
Go of the Future. It’s all about focusing on what you can vs. can’t control
and then how to unleash your best self.
Each
of the Flux Superpowers helps you see change in new ways, develop new responses
to change, and ultimately reshape your relationship with change.
Today,
April shares these additional insights with us:
Question: I
believe because of the past 1-1/2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic that readers
will find Flux both incredibly useful and at the same time comforting.
Do you agree and why?
April: I absolutely, 100% (or more like 1000%) agree. Flux
is both timely and timeless: It is useful immediately today and also can help
readers every day moving forward. Just knowing that -- you have a tool, a
guidebook, a set of superpowers – for the rest of your life is itself
comforting.
But
that's not all. The message of Flux is fundamentally uplifting, as well.
This is a book about reshaping your relationship to change to be fit for a
world of constant change, and in order to do that, you have to get to know
yourself better.
As
part of reading the book, you're able to (re)discover your agency, your values,
your dreams and quirks and expectations and so much else. Fundamentally, you
gain clarity on "what makes you, you – even when everything else changes."
Knowing this not only empowers you to weather any kind of change better; it
also even makes you lean into change in new ways. How comforting and exciting
is that?!
It's
worth noting that Flux is not a book "about" the covid
pandemic (or any particular kind of change, or any particular year). I began
writing it long before 2020, with an eye toward its value long after. The
events of the past 1-1/2 years have simply been an incredible accelerant and
validation of its message.
Question: How
long does it take after fully embracing the 8 Flux Superpowers for thriving in
constant change for someone to truly reshape their relationship with change?
April: At a basic level, the quest to improve one's
relationship to change is always underway. Learning how to thrive in constant
change isn't a "one-and-done" quick fix, because that's not how
change works. Of course, this also means that as long as you are living and
breathing, embracing and practicing the 8 Flux Superpowers, your relationship
to change is always improving, too!
In
some ways, this evolution -- and progress towards flux -- can happen pretty
quickly. I find this is especially the case for people who haven't really
thought much about their relationship to change before. Those early steps and
self-awareness can be quite eye-opening and make you hungry to learn more. But
when change hits (yet again, as it never fails to do) putting what you've
learned into practice can take time and effort. So, it's a continual process,
akin to peeling back the layers of an onion, where each layer reveals yet
something new to learn.
Keep
in mind also that some superpowers are easier for some people than others, and
some may be more difficult. (For example, some people may really struggle to
Run Slower, while others find it harder to Start with Trust.) The superpowers
are a menu, not a syllabus. But as you groove and strengthen one, you find the
others can be easier to grasp. It's an additive process; they enhance one
another. So, in this regard, there's a big incentive to dig into them – the benefits
only increase as you do!
Question: What
two or three things can leaders do today to help employees become more
comfortable with change?
April:
Bring
a Flux Mindset into your organization.
Remember, organizations can have Flux Mindsets too! "Fluxiness"
should be part of your organizational culture (if it's not yet, that's a good
place to start). Have your team read Flux and tackle the superpowers
together. Organizations are essentially groups of people, and if everyone can
improve their relationship to change in some way that’s best. When an entire
team does so, it can be transformative – at both individual and company levels.
Walk
the talk. Flux reflects a
paradigm shift for leaders. For example, historically we've expected leaders to
have "the answers." Yet in a world and future full of uncertainty, no
one really knows. Rather, great leaders in a world in flux are able to
acknowledge this and invite their colleagues in to help. When you can exhibit
the Flux Superpowers – being human, being comfortable getting lost, and so on –
you open up and empower your team to step up, do the same, and move forward
together.
Remember
that trust powers everything. All 8
Flux Superpowers are essential for flux-y organizations; however, I find that
trust is a sort of super-superpower. Without trust, everything else tends to
fall apart. With trust, everything becomes easier, more nimble, and more
successful. When change hits, trusted relationships are absolutely essential to
move forward through uncertainty. Start by talking with your team about trust.
If you find that trustworthiness is thin – on any level – then make that the
starting point for your journey to Flux.
April
offers this additional advice to leaders:
“Leadership
with the new script and a Flux Mindset means paying everyone enough, ensuring
everyone feels safe and valued, and treating others as peers rather than
subordinates.”
Finally, she offers these fire-starter questions for leaders and suggests you keep your answers nearby as you read her book:
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your personal ability to lead in flux today? How would your best friend?
- Do you tend to think in terms of “me” or “we”?
- How do you feel about sharing power with others?
- How would you rate your organization’s ability to flux? Are certain topics trigger points? Are select people, teams, or departments fluxier than others?
- Five (or two, or ten) years from now, what kind of leader or seeker do you want to be? Of what kind of organization.
April Rinne is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader ranked one of the “50 Leading Female Futurists” in the world by Forbes. She is a trusted advisor to well-known startups, companies, financial institutions, educational institutions, nonprofits, and think tanks worldwide, including Airbnb, Nike, Intuit, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, NESTA, Trōv, AnyRoad, and Unsettled, as well as governments ranging from Singapore to South Africa, Canada to Colombia, Italy to India.
Thank you to the book's publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.
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