Hot Topic Friday: Oct. 18

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Happy Friday! Here are my Oct. 18 Hot Topics and how they relate to advancing culture or leadership. 

Hot Topic 1: Humans Keep Breaking Seemingly Impossible Barriers.

Source: The New York Times.

What It’s About: Completing a marathon in less than two hours has been considered one of the most formidable barriers in sports, but Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge achieved a breakthrough in Vienna this last Saturday. His time: 1:59:40. Kipchoge ran a 04:33 minute mile— 26.2 times in a row. That’s 13 miles per hour, for just under 120 minutes in a row. It’s a WOW, even though some critics didn’t like the way the feat was orchestrated. 

Why It’s Important: Leaders sometimes need to be reminded that thinking BIG, encourages us to ask the important question: “How might we?” And when you invite people to figure out the possibilities, a plan emerges. While Kipchoge almost broke the record without assistance at the Berlin marathon in 2018, his blazing performance in Vienna included the help of professional pacers to improve drafting, and other technological performance enhancers. The creative plan worked. If you want to think and do something BIG in the world of organizations, consider lessons from team Kipchoge. 

One Millennial Reaction: This story reminds me of how before 1954, the 4-minute-mile was considered impossible to beat. According to Wikipedia, at least 1,400 more athletes have since achieved this, and it’s now considered a standard for middle-distance runners. While PEDs and other “shortcuts” are limited by rules and regulations, if you utilize legal, healthy and innovative ways to accomplish sky high goals, then Kipchoge’s team created a blueprint for thinking out of the box to start small, think BIG, and run really freakin’ fast.

Hot Topic 2: Massive Data: 5 Life Skills Employers Want.

Source: Big Think.

What It’s About: LinkedIn analyzed their massive database of employers and employees to develop a list of skills that companies were looking for most often. No overwhelming set of inaccessible, “rocket science” characteristics emerged. Actually the most desirable attributes/skills - creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and time management - seem to be even more important in the face of exponential technology and job redefinition. The article elaborates on each of the five skills, and how they can be improved.

Why It’s Important: Every single person can work on developing the skills above. (Note that creativity connects with the first article). So while it is necessary to develop digital and technological fluency, connecting the ability to use modern tools/platforms with the five attributes highlighted by LinkedIn will always make one valuable to employers. 

One Millennial Reaction: Checklists like these are extremely useful. We can start every project by asking ourselves how we’re being creative, persuasive, collaborative, adaptive and managing our time in the most efficient ways. A simple outline may be something worth writing down or printing out.

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[Picture and ratings provided by Vivino].

And finally! Here’s Cecil’s Bleat of the Week!

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“Everyone needs habits of mind that allow them to dance across disciplines.” - David Epstein.

Bye for now!

— Lorne Rubis

Incase you Missed It:

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Season 3 of Culture Cast. 

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