As individuals, companies and countries, we are going to have to be OK with not being OK for at least the…

I have a reputation amongst my family and friends as, what Marisa Tomei’s character Mona Lisa Vito in the best comedy film ever, “My Cousin Vinny”, would call a f***ing world traveller. I think I have travelled and worked in about 70 or 80 countries. I was recently travelling with a family member who was surprised that I didn’t seem to know what I was doing. Couldn’t remember which way to go, which forms to fill out, how to hail taxis etc. I thought about it for a while, and I realized that my major skill in travelling the world is not knowing a lot. It is being OK with being confused, surprised and making mistakes. Accepting. Learning rapidly on the fly. I am now used to dealing with different ways to conduct meetings, for example. Whether the introductions take a major piece of the meeting, or are skipped over. Whether it is considered bad form to arrive late, or de rigueur. Whether it is considered OK to use your phone, take calls, or even fall asleep in meetings. Also I am happy with different ways to great each other, surprising and different food and ways to eat. I walk equally unphased into Japanese toilets that look like the captain’s chair in Star Trek, or holes in the ground. I feel like this will be a critical skill for us as individuals, companies and countries for at least the next decade. We have gone through a period of relative geopolitical stability with America as the big boss, received wisdom of how businesses work, sources of competitive advantage, the dominance of process and architectural thinking, and relatively solid, static company boundaries. We are now entering a period of a multi-polar world without truth, ecosystems with porous company boundaries, artificially intelligent agents acting on our behalf, everything we do, feel and even think potentially susceptible to scrutiny and analysis. As the great Nightbirde reminds us “It’s OK if you’re lost. We’re all a little lost, and it’s alright.” How are you going to continually increase your ability to be OK with things not being OK? #unthink #unask #unlearn