The trick to repeated self-disruption is to start on evenings and weekends. Once you’ve got momentum, start sneaking off 9-5 bullshit-work time till you succeed. Then drop the old 9-5 altogether and make the sneaking-off the new 9-5.
Then (and this is key) you start over.
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The old 3M/Google idea of 20% time is deeply flawed because the key part is not allocating 8h of 40 nominal to “innovation”. The key part is sneaking off. If you try to make it legible what you end up with is a 50h week with 10h devoted to dull poster-child projects with no risk
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This is the corporate equivalent of a hobby. Hobbies are E&W activities designed specifically to be the opposite of self disruption. That’s why the typical ones are so obviously zero chance of rocking the boat. Like stamp collecting.
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The hard part of innovation is never imagination. It’s always nerve. The sneaking-off phase 2 of self-disruption is a test of nerve. To sneak off you have to slack off. To slack off you have to quietly decide certain things are bullshit and either not do them, or pretend cheaply.
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Good leaders help create this risk-taking zone by *not* waging total war on bullshit work . The optimal amount of BSW is not 0. BSW has unintended function, so you need some clueless types around doing it. And the key is to not call it out, so it serves as a nerve-sorting test.
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Signs you’re failing the sneak-off test:
1. You fight it openly
2. You lose sight of sneak-off mission and turn into an anti-BSW warrior
3. You go over-the-radar too soon imagining the obvious non-BSW nature will but you freedom (no, it will buy you a target on your back)
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Don’t go above the radar till you have enough momentum to rise above the BSW altogether. Never threaten the BSW with your success. Treat it as a delicate wilderness to be protected, so it can continue to serve as a trial by fire for future sneaking-off.
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In BSW national park, take only pictures, leave only footprints. Enough to prove you were there.
Navigating BSW successfully is how you signal to others that you have the political savvy to defend projects from future threats. The BSW sneak-off test is just the first of many.
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This started out as an individual-scale thread but derailed into a corporate innovation management thread. But everything I said applies to solopreneur life too. You just have to wear all the hats, including BSW bureaucrat and leader. At least 6 personalities recommended.
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