Creating meaningful change is not something that most people are willing to take on, which stems from a general reluctance to take chances and create something new out of uncertainty.
That is where the 👨✈️ chaos pilots comes in - the rare people who can take action and creatively lead a project through ambivalence.
I learned that not everyone is comfortable with pursuing a goal if they don’t know how they’ll get there.
Objectively, I see the problem: Who would want to fly a plane ✈️ into chaos, the only compass 🧭 being mere faith that they’ll be able to figure it out? And, I guess, who would willingly board that plane✈️?
The answer? Someone who has enough experience to be confident, and isn’t afraid of a little turbulence.
Someone who likes a challenge. Someone who isn’t satisfied knowing that there’s a better way — but not trying to get there. Someone who’s a good Googler. And honestly, someone who does their best work when they have something to prove.
But how do you build transformative teams with chaos pilots?
There are three neuropsychological traits to seek while building a transformative team. These three traits — divergent thinking, convergent action, and influential communication — all play a crucial role to succeeding in innovation and transformation.
✈️👨✈️The first of the three, divergent thinking, is the ability to uniquely connect new information, ideas, and concepts that are usually held far apart. People with this skill can match dissimilar concepts in novel and meaningful ways and uncover new opportunities that others may overlooked.
✈️👨✈️ Convergent action, the second trait, is the ability to execute on these new ideas in order to create something tangible. Though many people can come up with great ideas, it is often those with convergent action who will move that new concept from idea to product.
✈️👨✈️ Last, having the ability to communicate ideas in a coherent, compelling, and influential way is paramount. This trait will inspire other leaders and decision-makers to believe, support, and act on a novel idea or opportunity
Finding 👨✈️chaos pilots can be challenging and requires observation and experimentation...
Look for people who are getting mixed performance reviews, but who are still highly prized by the organization. Often, these people are getting mixed reviews because they make those around them uncomfortable — because the potential candidates often challenge the status quo — but they continue to succeed, because they perform so well.
Do you or your organization have the skills of a Chaos pilot?