‘Built to Last’ or ‘Built to Evolve?’

How soon can you become obsolete?

How soon can you become obsolete?

Durability is under threat. The notion of durability, once valued , is now not so, well, durable.

The Favre-Leuba Alarm clock that your parents handed down to you was durable. It now sits as an antique on your mantelpiece, perpetually showing ten past ten. It took two generations for the clock to qualify as an antique. An antique now is your iPhone that you bought just four years ago.

And, the new iPhone you bought. That too is not the same as it was yesterday. This morning, you downloaded three new apps on fitness, mindfulness and how to sustain your glowing skin. And as you were charging it overnight, it moved your random and unnecessary selfies to the cloud and upgraded the phone so that now you can do even more with it. By the way, it is just called an iPhone. Out of nostalgia. It is only partly a phone. It has evolved to something completely else.

The question is not about alarm clocks and iPhone. It is about you. How upgraded are you? How many features and functionalities have you added to yourself lately? Which version of yourself are you right now?

Everything learns. Even machines. That is the zeitgeist.

Only a few years ago, the role of a machine was to enhance efficiency and quality. An upgrade meant a new machine. A new car. Not anymore. In the digital world, learning happens on top of efficiency and quality gains. A digital solution does not just solve the problem as it exists today. It also learns how it solved the problem today so that it can solve the problem better tomorrow. That is the big difference of our age. Learning is in real time. And embedded in the design of everything.

Are you learning in real time? Is learning embedded in your design?

To answer these questions, think not of the number of training programs that you have attended or the number of courses that you have a certification in.

Think of the micro universe (Eco-system) in which you live your daily life.

This micro universe consists of the people you interact with every day, the work you do, the technology you use and the material that you read and talk about every day. Your micro universe is the single biggest determinant of your learn-ability factor.

I guess you are reflecting on your micro universe right now and wondering if it is helping you learn real time and to become a better version of yourself every day. That introspection is well worth the effort.

However, the next step is interesting. To become a thriving member of an actively learning micro universe, you don’t have to switch, leave or transform your current universe. You have to transform yourself. It is not self-evident, but your micro universe changes if you change. Not the other way around.

We know that, in general, we are all built to evolve. However, different individuals evolve at different rates. The rate at which any individual evolves, for the most part, is an outcome of the effort of that individual.

How do you measure up on your rate of evolution? What is your learn-ability factor? What is your evolutionary potential?

A few points of self-reflection that can help you determine your evolutionary potential. Think about: ‘Do I value loyalty or contribution?’ ‘Do I build regiments or teams?’ ‘Do I hold myself accountable or blame others?’ ‘Do I value power or growth?’

While the above self-reflection will help, the real answer lies in these two questions.

“What did I learn this week that I never knew before?”
 
 “In the last six months, which entrenched pattern of my behavior or routine have I broken and started a new pattern based on new learning and new data?”

Once you start learning and changing, you will find that the micro universe around you will change too. Very soon, you will be on a upward spiral of evolution you were built for.