4 steps for surviving the jungle.
When I was an undergrad at West Virginia University, I had a classmate from Peru who told me that prisoners who were hard to handle were sometimes released into the jungle. I don’t know the veracity of his statement, but I often think about that fate. I’d be terrible in the jungle! Then last week I was at the swimming pool, and I was watching so many people swim so effortlessly, and I thought, “If I were ‘released’ into the ocean, into the desert, onto a professional football field, onto a professional music or dance stage … I would fare little or no better than being released into the jungle!” For some, the jungle is repairing your car or home, passing Chemistry or other subjects, sales and marketing, legal matters. The key, it dawned on me, is to quickly orient yourself in the jungle so that you can SURVIVE long enough to grow the SKILLS you need to survive there. So here are 4 important steps to surviving YOUR jungle, if and when you find yourself there:
1. Team. Hopefully you have others you know or can work with, since working as a team is a great advantage. If you’re in the innovation jungle, you might seek out your BAIL team (Banking, Accounting, Insurance, Legal). They in turn might be able to introduce you to others.
2. Resources. Find or create even a small amount of resources like water (e.g., flowing water, a solar still), shelter (e.g., branches and leaves), and food (e.g., fish, plants if you know them). You cannot conserve your way to a decent life in the jungle! You must gather resources! In innovation, you need to feed yourself with professional development, meeting new experts, and having a quiet place where you can rest and think adaptively.
3. Dangers. Protect yourself from active dangers (e.g., animals, mosquitoes) and passive ones (e.g., dehydration, sunburn). In the short term, beware apathy (customers, employees, yourself), taxes (including estimated taxes), fees, marketing scams, and unseen competition. Over time, watch our for your competitors -- not just organizations that DO what you do, but rather those who COMPETE for the same pot of money you do. Make the investment in your service the very best use of their money.
4. Escape to victory. Choose one direction to travel. Hopefully you’ll reach a landmark (e.g., a stream, a river, an animal trail) that you can follow. Avoid going in circles, repeating things over and over again. In innovation, focus toward one goal at first, and go until you reach a marker. Then set a new goal. Failure will happen, but avoid losing focus and meandering in all directions!
