Years ago when Arnold reached the zenith of the bodybuilding world, he did so by breaking the rules. Not literally, of course. He broke from conventional thinking about training muscles. Here’s what he did. He surprised his muscles by varying his routine. All the time. Never the same. Amazing were the results.
Amazing.
Dov Charney broke all the rules too. He started American Apparel in 1997 and instead of outsourcing his tee shirt production overseas, he made his wares in a U.S. factory and paid $13/hour with bennies too. Amazing results. Great shirt. If you have a BTL brown tee, you have one. Softest, most comfortable tee in my lineup.
Amazing again.
Yvonne at Patagonia and Gary at Clif Bars broke out of the pack too. Most Individuals, teams, and leaders that are building something sustainable will NOT follow the pack. They will find their own way home. They will break plenty of rules along the way to high performance. They will not experience linear growth. They will want to quit in the plateau, just as you and I do.
Amazing resilience.
If you’re like every CEO that I know you want a team that is more innovative. More creative. Here’s something that helped Arnold, Dov, Yvonne, Gary and countless others along the way. Do NOT miss this…
Flood the brain with new experiences. Surprise yourself. Mix it up. Literally. The more foreign the experience, the better. You see, your brain has been trained to take short cuts and to save as much energy as possible. It’s really good at doing the least amount possible. The more you surprise it, the more you force it to take the long way home, so to speak, the more creative that bad boy becomes. It doesn’t have a choice. As your brain travels down new trails it is “forced” into being more open. It can’t rely on old neural networks to perform another “no brainer.” This is the seed of creative thought. Flood the brain. Surprise it. Very cool. AND…
Engage new, young thinking to your teams.
Spend more of your time away from corporate headquarters.
Cancel all day staff meetings unless they’re “practice” sessions.
Read books that bring you new perspectives. Like Iconoclasts, Buying In, and Orbiting the Giant Hairball, to name but a few.
Force yourself to break as many routines as you can. Force your brain to get uncomfortable.
Set yourself up to embrace risks. Create this habit by starting small. Build momentum.
AND…
Just remember, most epiphanies do NOT happen in the office. Most breakthrough innovations occur on the bike, if your name is Gary. On the mountain, if your name is Yvonne. In some sweaty gym if you’re Arnold. Half naked if your a Dov.
In 2009 do NOT make your normal resolutions. Shake it up. Have some fun with the process. AND, experiment more and more. Magic may be just one more experiment away. Very cool.
Happy New trails…
BUILT TO LEAD 
I believe this is where all of the fun is, changing it up, trying a different path.
It heightens the senses, creates some excitement and makes for good conversation. I love the adventure. Hardest part for me, room in the margins. Without room in the margins you feel like you can not take the extra time it MAY take or what if, what if, what if??
Thanks for reminding me of what I love to do. Take the chances. Play! What is the worst that will happen, late for another appointment. At least the explanation will be interesting.
Thank you for helping us think and dream Chet.