Innovation in the Rainforest?

I was recently invited to speak at a 3 day workshop on innovation entitled ‘Rainforest Architects,’ sponsored by Greg Horowitt and Victor Hwang, partners and co-founders of T2 Venture Capital, and co-authors of the book The Rainforest – the Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley.  The conference sought to build on the themes of the book, which examines the metaphorical contrast between the well-manicured order of the plantation, and the chaos of the Rainforest.  The plantation represents our disciplined, ordered, and (relatively) well organized economy.  Break-through innovations have been the equivalents of weeds that have somehow been able to flourish– weeds that traditional businesses and organized economies normally reject. “While plants grow most efficiently on farms, weeds sprout best in Rainforests.”

The workshop was held in Silicon Valley, since Silicon Valley is the Rainforest they describe, having become a hot bed of innovation and creative ideas that in most cases, were rejected by the ‘plantation owners’ in the US economy of  15, 20, 25  years ago. Many of those plantation-like businesses are now defunct, but the best and strongest weeds, the Googles, the Facebooks, and others have transformed their industries, and arguably our world.  The plantation model still works for efficient implementation and ‘harvesting’ of proven ideas, but the chaos of the Rainforest is where the new ideas, the ‘weeds,’  grow and flourish, and where the best and strongest can prove themselves.

Given that the Rainforest is chaotic and disorganized, I was asked to bring in the perspective of another culture – the Navy SEALs – which has thrived and succeeded in the chaos of the battlefield.  Since SEALs often speak of themselves as ‘masters of chaos,’ and have thrived as a weed within the well-ordered plantation of the Navy,  Greg  wanted the business entrepreneurs  attending this workshop – his Rainforest Architects –to hear from a representative of this successful military ‘start-up’ which has gotten so much attention lately.  And through a couple of mutual friends, he was connected to me.

I was asked to speak on ‘comfort in chaos,’ and I did – generally noting that we should never be ‘comfortable’ in chaos – instead, we should seek to be as well prepared as possible, and when in chaos, stay very, very alert and tuned in, and look hard to find the patterns. SEALs and other SOF train hard to master the chaos of the battlefield by being better prepared and better trained than anyone else in the gunfight, and they mitigate risk by planning and preparing for things to go wrong. We talked about managing luck, good and bad, and becoming more resilient by purposely spending a lot of time outside of our comfort zone, but trying to stay within our safety zone.  After examining my experience and preparing the themes I wanted to address, I found many of the same ideas better expressed– but without the SEAL or military connection – in two books:  Great by Choice, by Jim Collins, and The Icarus Deception by Seth Godin.    I think I led a good discussion with the Rainforest Architects, but we didn’t get specifically to ‘innovation’ as I had hoped. The topic of positive innovation, and creative thought, individually, organizationally, and socially continues to fascinate me.

The reading I did on ‘innovation’ struck me a lot like the reading I have done on leadership: it is a very broad topic, a bit mushy (which I like), there are a number of different models that have succeeded, and innovation and leadership both must adapt to culture and context to succeed.   I found many formulae for enhancing one’s own innovative spirit and personal creativity, formulae for leaders and organizations to foster innovation within their companies/teams, and how innovative teams, often called ‘skunk works’ (check out the etymology)  can organize themselves to best nurture that great idea that will transform their organization, society, or the world.  I also found interesting material about when NOT to innovate, and when to hunker down with the tried and true.   But what I found most insightful were the ideas in Greg and Victor’s Rainforest book and workshop, emphasizing  the need for a supportive ‘economic ecosystem’ to ensure that  great and innovative ideas don’t die on the vine (as many do), but get traction, gain momentum, and have a positive and enduring impact.

The Rainforest Architect approach emphasizes the social and personal relationship piece of the innovation process, and less the scientist working alone in a lab who (for example,) may develop a cure for diabetes.  Greg and Victor make the point that money is not the primary driver for most successful innovators, nor for their supporters , a point also made by Simon Sinek in Start with Why, and Daniel Pink in Drive, among others.  Money and capital are certainly an important part of the process, but their point is that passion and zeal for the idea and the impact it can have, are the primary drivers in most great innovations – not the drive to get rich.  Start with a great, or even pretty good, idea, add passion and zeal on the part not only of the creative, but also the support team, throw in strong business skills, trust between the players, and an economic ecosystem that supports innovation, and the money will naturally follow.

In short, Greg and Victor’s Rainforest message is that ‘it takes a village’ to foster and sustain innovation, and that ‘village’ can be social, entrepreneurial, business, and scientific networks spanning the globe.  That village needs to promote collaboration and trust, and create a space for ideas to come together, and in the words of Matt Ridley, ‘have sex.’  It is a complicated process, and the roles of biology, human relationships and a support community have been undervalued in understanding the innovation process.  A few short quotes from The Rainforest – the Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley give you a sense for the key messages I took from the book:

-          To understand Silicon Valley, we must think of its people as a living biological system, not the sum of its individual components. P271

-          Successful innovation requires the labors of a vast ecosystem of executives, engineers, salespeople, advisors, consultants, venture capitalists, angel investors, accountants, landlords, lawyers, marketers, bankers, supportive friends, and countless others. Page 82

-          The secret recipe of Rainforests…is about people and how they interact with one another. P64

-          Rainforests have replaced tribalism with a culture of informal rules that allow strangers to work together efficiently on temporary projects. P116

-          The informal rules that govern Rainforests cause people to restrain their short-term self-interest for long-term mutual gain. P121

-          Rainforests like Silicon Valley have developed ways to foster communication, trust, and collaboration among very different kinds of people.  P111

-          Leaders in the Rainforest must learn to engineer serendipity, not outcomes. P275

In preparing for my participation in the workshop, I got a feel for the extensive literature and breadth of thinking on innovation, not only individual creativity, but also how organizations and social and economic ecosystem can foster it.  Exploring the process that leads to breakthroughs that propel our individual, organizational and socio-economic lives forward is a fascinating new world for me.  Clearly, we need analytical, systematic, and plantation-owner thinking in most aspects of our lives, and most of us spend our lives living and working in the well-organized and comfortable world of our (metaphorical) plantations.  But the world of the entrepreneur, the venture capitalist, the start-up, and the innovator is different.   As Greg Horowitt and Victor Hwang write, there are great insights to be gained by purposely (and courageously) walking out into the Rainforest, and seeking to learn from the chaos and innovation in nature, and considering what those processes might teach us as we try to foster an economic ecosystem that gives new and innovative ideas a chance to prove themselves.

Note and Postscript:  The values that the book espouses are of particular interest to me as someone who (still) teaches business ethics.  They are generally consistent with a new movement by successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders like Bill Gates (‘Creative Capitalism,) Michael Porter (‘Shared-Value Capitalism,’) John Mackey (‘Conscious Capitalism,’) and others.   You can read, comment on, and/or endorse the Rainforest Social Contract at http://therainforestbook.com 

Resilience

“Resilience” is a new buzzword I’m seeing these days in a many different contexts.   We need to develop “systems resilience” to deal with potential cyber attacks.  We need more “resilient communities” to prepare for tragedy and the unexpected.  The government is creating programs to help develop “family resilience” to better cope with the stresses of military life. And the military seeks to develop “resilient soldiers,” less susceptible to traumatic stress disorder, better prepared to positively respond to stress and change. 

Resilience is clearly a good thing. So what exactly is it, and how do we get some?

Like many things, resilience is both simple and complex.  In essence, it seems to come down to an ability to cope, and to respond well to adversity and stress.  The opposite of resilient  might be ‘fragile,’ ‘rigid,’ ‘delicate,’ or even ‘sensitive.’   Persistence is usually, but not always, associated with resilience.

When we talk about people being resilient, we really have to define the context, since resilience manifests itself differently in different contexts.   Different contexts may demand physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, spiritual or other types of resilience – or some of each –  to respond to different types of adversity.    Being resilient in one context does not assume resilience in another.  We’ve all seen people who may be mentally and physically very resilient in combat or high-stress environments (physical/mental resilience), but who emotionally over-react or are unbending with their families and friends (emotional/social resilience).   My graduate students are very successful in their personal and professional lives, but sometimes have views of the world that are quite rigid.  Graduate school seeks to develop ‘intellectual resilience’ by forcing students out of comfortable mental models, to try on different viewpoints and different ways of thinking.

So how does one become more ‘resilient?’

Aristotle said that if you want to become courageous, you need to do things that require courage.  He would say the same thing about resilience.  One must be willing to get out of one’s comfort-zone, and stretch one’s ability to adapt to a different environment, if one wants to develop greater resilience under stress or adversity.  In other words, one must subject oneself to the stress of not being comfortable.  In today’s culture, there is a temptation to find a comfortable niche, settle into a ‘comfort-zone’ and fight never to leave it.   We commit to career, marriage, family, community, mortgage – what one young friend of mine called  ‘the whole catastrophe.’    We seek stability, predictability, and… we get comfortable.

To stay nimble and resilient, we must occassionally force ourselves into endeavors and environments where we are not in complete control – and force ourselves to adapt.  We must be willing to at least consider, and accept with some equanimity,  the possibility that the things we count on can be taken away – our job, our money, lifestyle, health, friends, loved ones, our title and our reputation.   And we must be willing to ask ourselves that ‘existential’ question:  What is left, and who are we without those things?

To step out of our comfort-zone, we risk failure. Only by trying and failing, and trying again, do we develop the resilience to deal with things happening in a way that does not suit us.  Without learning to deal with failure, there can be no resilience.  Not getting what we want means to suffer, and, as the Greeks believed, wisdom only comes through suffering. 

In dealing with difficulties and discomfort, we frequently use something called ‘self talk’ as a psychological tool to help ourselves deal with  difficult circumstances.  Self-talk has been shown to actually change the way we think, behave, and perceive our environment. “I can do this.”  “This too shall pass.”  “This is my opportunity.” “This is God’s will (or this is my fate).  I must deal with this as best I can.” “I am strong.”   ”I am confident.”  Prayer is a form of self talk.  A wise person once warned against asking God to give us the result we want, recommending instead that we pray for the strength (resilience) to deal with what He gives us.

My old friend Master Chief Will Guild suggested two essentials to resilience:  a sense of humor and love.  A sense of humor gets us outside of ourselves and our own ego-driven self absorption.  It can deflate the pressures of fear, anger, panic and resentment.  Love likewise gets us outside of the immediacy of our personal anxiety– loving others, in spite of their failings, and loving ourselves, in spite of our failings. Indeed, Aristotle saw self-love, or ‘proper pride’ as a fundamental virtue.   Maintaining our self-respect and personal sense of dignity, when all is going wrong, is essential to a resilient response to challenge and adversity.  Without self respect and ‘proper pride,’ collapse in the face of adversity is predictable.

SEAL training is very much about developing physical and mental resilience to respond to adversity in battle or special operations.  SEAL basic training creates a somewhat artificial adversity in a controlled training environment that serves as a crucible to develop the resilience needed to respond well to the real fear and adversity of combat.  Master Chief Guild used to teach SEAL trainees four key techniques for developing the resilience necessary to succeed at their baic training, and by extension, in combat. These are variations on what sports psychologists teach to professional athletes to help them perform their best under stress and pressure.

First, maintain a positive attitude – believe in yourself, keep your sense of humor, and use self talk to stay positive. 

Second, learn positive visualization. Visualize and believe in your own success, whatever that looks like. Positive visualization prepares us mentally for the challenge at hand, and for what it feels like to succeed. 

Third, practice segmentation.  Break the challenge you are facing into bite-size goals -– this event, this day. Set simple, achievable, short term goals. Don’t look beyond getting through the challenge of the moment, the event, or the day.

Fourth, learn arousal control.  Learn techniques to calm yourself when fear, panic and anxiety seem ready to overwhelm you.  These techniques include meditation, deep breathing, heart-rate management.  And again, self talk.

The best literature I’ve read on resilience is from the Roman Stoics and from Viktor Frankl in his classic short book, Man’s Search for Meaning.  Vadm Stockdale wrote extensively about how Stoicism helped him survive seven years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.  Stoicism divides the world into two spheres – things we can control, and things we can’t.  The Stoic believes that we develop psychic resilience (and serenity) by learning to accept fate’s dictates, assuming full responsibility for our actions and attitudes, and developing the “wisdom to know the difference” between what we have to accept and what we can affect.  Viktor Frankl’s book is about the resilience that comes from having a purpose for living – a goal for one’s life.  This greater sense of purpose provides the strength and motivation to overcome life’s challenges.  Man’s Search for Meaning is about how Frankl found meaning in his suffering in a German concentration camp, and how his belief in his own life’s purpose was key to his survival.  Both Stockdale and Frankl would argue that a strong will to adapt, survive, and prevail is essential.

In conclusion, there is much that can be said and written about resilience.   It is key to success and survival in dynamic, stressful, and rapidly changing environments.  As with leadership and character, resilience seems to be at least partly innate – some people are naturally more resilient and adaptable than others, and some people seem to be born with a stronger will to succeed.  But as with character and leadership, resilience and strength of will can be improved through experience, training and education.   We can intentionally develop more flexible mental models, a broader perspective, and we can learn to imagine things as different than they are.     It can help a lot to have a resilient and inspiring teacher, leader, or mentor who believes in us. 

It is useful to remember that Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection put a very high premium on resilience.