3 tips for being a pacesetter
Pacesetters have a different kind of psychology. They take the lead, maintain the lead and extend the lead. They believe ‘a better way is possible’. Dick Fosbury created a revolutionary method of high jumping; Sony invented the Walkman; Abraham Maslow gave birth to a new view of humanity. Pacesetters make the new rules for the game. Let’s explore how you can do pioneering work in your chosen field.
* You can choose the activity in which you want to be a pacesetter.
Human beings are natural designers. They love to solve problems, invent new models or develop their own view of paradise - be it in creating a garden, designing a house or whatever. Looking at your personal and professional life, choose an activity in which you want to show what is possible. If the former, choose one where you enjoy a sense of play. If the latter, choose one where you can achieve peak performance. Try completing the following sentence.
The specific activity in which I would like to do pacesetting work is:
*
* You can do superb work as a pacesetter.
Whatever pioneering work you do - enjoy it. The basic rules are simple: follow your passion, translate this into a clear purpose, deliver peak performance and be a pacesetter. Then, if appropriate, pass-on your knowledge. Clarifying the end goal is crucial. If you are visual, you may start by picturing the end result - the ‘Z’. Returning to A, B and C, you will then ‘play’ with many different ideas until you discover how to reach Z. Then it is time to work hard to create the ‘finished product’. If you are doing pioneering work in a business, for example, it is vital to build successful prototypes. Success provides its own arguments. People who see the benefits are more likely to adopt ‘the new way of doing things around here’.
Pacesetters recognise that there are many different levels of invention. Some ideas are incremental - they move things along a little bit; some are transformational - they completely re-write the rules of the game. Thomas Kuhn coined the term ‘paradigm shift’ during the 1960s in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Paradigm shifts occur, he said, when people see events in a radically different way. For example, the earth is seen to revolve around the sun - not the other way round. People may experience such breakthroughs in their personal lives. Suddenly they see the world in a different way, which leads to changing their behaviour. Paradigm shifts can also occur in sports, business or when recognising the effects our actions have on the planet.
Decide the degree to which you want to be pioneering - then complete your ‘prototype’. Some innovators want to develop, spread and perhaps sell their invention - others want to go onto the next exciting project. Try completing the following sentence.
The specific things I can do to perform superb work as a pacesetter are:
*
* You can continue to be a pacesetter.
Pacesetters sometimes get bored after seeing their ‘project’ work in practice. Why? They are often designers at heart. They also like to get the right balance between design, development and delivery. Great design is simple, satisfying and successful. After delivering the ‘project’ and seeing it works, for example, you may want to either: a) Make it even better; b) Move onto the next project. If you take the second route, take some time-out to re-gather your thoughts. Do some ‘slow thinking’ and make good use of the ‘fallow times’. Ask yourself questions like:
“What are my passions? What do I want to invent, build or design? What do I want to create? What problems do I want to solve? What things can be done in a better way? What knowledge do I want to pass-on? What can I do to encourage future generations? How can I do these things? When do I want to begin?”
Human beings are natural designers. They love to solve problems, invent new models or develop their own view of paradise - be it in creating a garden, designing a house or whatever. Looking at your personal and professional life, choose an activity in which you want to show what is possible. If the former, choose one where you enjoy a sense of play. If the latter, choose one where you can achieve peak performance. Try completing the following sentence.
The specific activity in which I would like to do pacesetting work is:
*
* You can do superb work as a pacesetter.
Whatever pioneering work you do - enjoy it. The basic rules are simple: follow your passion, translate this into a clear purpose, deliver peak performance and be a pacesetter. Then, if appropriate, pass-on your knowledge. Clarifying the end goal is crucial. If you are visual, you may start by picturing the end result - the ‘Z’. Returning to A, B and C, you will then ‘play’ with many different ideas until you discover how to reach Z. Then it is time to work hard to create the ‘finished product’. If you are doing pioneering work in a business, for example, it is vital to build successful prototypes. Success provides its own arguments. People who see the benefits are more likely to adopt ‘the new way of doing things around here’.
Pacesetters recognise that there are many different levels of invention. Some ideas are incremental - they move things along a little bit; some are transformational - they completely re-write the rules of the game. Thomas Kuhn coined the term ‘paradigm shift’ during the 1960s in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Paradigm shifts occur, he said, when people see events in a radically different way. For example, the earth is seen to revolve around the sun - not the other way round. People may experience such breakthroughs in their personal lives. Suddenly they see the world in a different way, which leads to changing their behaviour. Paradigm shifts can also occur in sports, business or when recognising the effects our actions have on the planet.
Decide the degree to which you want to be pioneering - then complete your ‘prototype’. Some innovators want to develop, spread and perhaps sell their invention - others want to go onto the next exciting project. Try completing the following sentence.
The specific things I can do to perform superb work as a pacesetter are:
*
* You can continue to be a pacesetter.
Pacesetters sometimes get bored after seeing their ‘project’ work in practice. Why? They are often designers at heart. They also like to get the right balance between design, development and delivery. Great design is simple, satisfying and successful. After delivering the ‘project’ and seeing it works, for example, you may want to either: a) Make it even better; b) Move onto the next project. If you take the second route, take some time-out to re-gather your thoughts. Do some ‘slow thinking’ and make good use of the ‘fallow times’. Ask yourself questions like:
“What are my passions? What do I want to invent, build or design? What do I want to create? What problems do I want to solve? What things can be done in a better way? What knowledge do I want to pass-on? What can I do to encourage future generations? How can I do these things? When do I want to begin?”
Try completing the following sentence.
The specific things I can do to continue to be a pacesetter are:
*
The specific things I can do to continue to be a pacesetter are:
*
Once you feel ready, embark on the next exciting journey. Stay curious, stay creative and, if you wish, share concrete results. Pursue your passion, translate it into a clear purpose and continue to be a pacesetter.
posted by Mike Pegg at
22:31
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