Today as I walked through the Austin, Texas airport, I stopped in the bookstore (those who know me won’t be surprised by that, but might be surprised that I didn’t purchase anything). One of the books I picked up, mostly because of the title, was How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn’t Have to Be Forever, by Jack Horner, a noted paleontologist.
I didn’t think much more about it until got on the plane and pulled out the March issue of Wired Magazine, which had apparently been languishing in my briefcase unread.
A few pages in came a one page Q & A with, you guessed it, Jack Horner(read the whole piece here). Reading this page confirmed that I won’t likely read How to Build a Dinosaur, but two things from his answers are worth noting for us as leaders.
Part of his answer to one question was, “Yes, it’s a wild plan, but I like to think about things backwards.”
This is a brilliant comment, and an approach worth us emulating.
Want to help lead your team in better problem solving?
Think about the situation backwards, i.e. start by looking at the root causes of the problem.
Want to help solve a team member solve a problem through your coaching and mentoring?
Think about the situation backwards, i.e. have them deconstruct the the situation, working backwards from today.
What to try a novel approach to learning leadership?
Think about the problem backwards, i.e. why do people follow?
Later, Horner was asked: Are you getting any flak from other researchers?
(All of us should copy, underline and memorize his answer – but only if you want to exhibit innovative leadership, and create remarkable results.)
“Scientists who play by someone else’s rules don’t have much of a chance of making new discoveries.”
If you as a leader want to make new discoveries, create new products, change your organizational culture, or have a vision of something quite different than what exists today, you must remember the truth of this thought. If you want to create something new, old rules and assumptions must be thrown out or ignored.
Beyond this fact, notice how Horner is focused on his goal, and could care less what others think.
Sometimes as a leader you won’t be popular, people won’t agree with you, and they may even think you are crazy. If you are leading boldly this comes with the territory, so get used to it.
Consider this as one of your leadership activities for today:
Read Horner’s answer again, reflect on it, and think about when or how often and this feeling or concern may be the barrier keeping you from more remarkable results.
“Scientists who play by someone else’s rules don’t have much of a chance of making new discoveries.”
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