1. Introduction
Q1: Why are you reading this book?
A1:
Q2: What comes to mind when you see the word “disrupt”?
A2:
Q3: Describe the s-curve?
A3:
Q4: Do you think that the experience of Dan McLaughlin is
typical of those seeking to apply the s-curve for personal performance
improvement? Why? Why not?
A4:
Q5: List any examples of where you can use the
s-curve to explain how you learned something new.
A5:
Q6: Give a brief response for each of the
variables to speed up/slow down our learning on the s-curve (and our own or
org's progress) listed in this section. Include observations, questions,
surprises.
A6:
Q7: Give any examples and commentary for how
s-curves are playing out in your own life. This could include s-curves you are
already on and new s-curves that are coming to mind for you to jump onto next.
A7:
2. Chapter
1: Take the Right Risks
Q1:“Be a Columbus to whole new
continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of
thought." (Henry David Thoreau).
What is you first response to this
quote?
A1:
Q2: Give some examples of where you have
started something new and everything has been unfamiliar.
A2:
Q3: Give some examples of where you do
things without consciously thinking about each task in sequence to do that
activity.
A3:
Q4: Give some examples of what you use
to solve specific "problems" or "needs" in your life.
A4:
Q5: Why is "why" an important
question to ask when about to start doing anything?
A5:
Q6: "Nature favours risk
takers". Discuss.
A6:
Q7: From the HBR article @ https://hbr.org/2013/03/do-you-play-to-win-or-to-not-lose, use the
following quote to discuss the difference between promotion-focused and
prevention-focsed people:
"The promotion-focused are engaged
by inspirational role models, the prevention-focused by cautionary tales."
A7:
Q8: Would you say that a person is
always promotion-focused or always prevention-focused? Why? Why not?
A8:
Q9: Explain the difference between
competitive risk and market risk.
A9:
Q10: How does the author
"sell" market risk?
A10:
Q11: Do you buy it? Why? Why not?
A11:
Q12: Assess yourself and the extent to
which you are doing what no one else is doing.
A12:
Q13: If you are competing in the same
market space with lots of other people, what steps could you take to become
more distinctive?
A13:
3. Chapter 2: Play
to Your Distinctive Strengths
Q1: "Each bird must sing
with its own throat" (Henrik Ibsen)
What does the opening quote of the chapter speak to you of?
A1:
Q2: Give a very short explanation
of what distinctive strengths are.
A2:
Q3: Say something about how you
view yourself as unique. Why do you? Why don't you?
A3:
Q4: What have others communicated
to you directly about their appreciation about ways in which you operate that
surprised you in any way?
A4:
Q5: What are your strengths? An
ideal way of identifying these is to take Marcus Buckingham's Standout
Strengths test and sharing your top 2 strengths. See https://www.marcusbuckingham.com/.
A5:
Q6: What is your assessment of
you having or not having those 2 strengths? Was this a confirmation of what you
already knew or were you surprised?
A6:
Q7: List 10 specific strengths
you have that you believe will be key for your work and any next role or career
over the next 12 months.
A7:
Q8: Whitney references the Harvard
Business Review article "Making Yourself Indispensable". Read that article and write what struck you
as you read it.
A8:
Q9 (optional)
Take the list of competencies
from the HBR article above and assess your current capability for each one and
then say where you would like your capability to be in the medium term using
the following "levels" (these were introduced in Simon's answers to
an earlier chapter). Provide a commentary for each one
with nay explanation of current or target levels:-
·
Level 0 –
None
·
Level 1 –
Theoretical
·
Level 2 –
Basic
·
Level 3 –
Working Knowledge
·
Level 4 –
Proficient
·
Level 5 –
Advanced/Expert
These are listed in the
spreadsheet template to download from here.
Note that the scoring is entirely
up to you and will be heavily influenced by your own views of what each level
means so beware when comparing notes with others.
If you would like to share your assessment, please do.
A9:
Q10: When do you feel
invigorated, inquisitive, successful?
A10:
Q11: Do you feel strong when
teaching or learning, buying or selling, leading a team or creating on your
own?
A11:
Q12: What exasperates you about
others?
A12:
Q13: Compare your 21 year-old
"you" and your "you" today.
A13:
Q14: What compliments do you
shrug off repeatedly?
A14:
Q15: If you do, how do you want to
change how you handle compliments?
A15:
Q16: What are the hardest skills
you have developed in terms or effort, experience, "war wounds"
etc?
A16:
Q17: "Match your strengths
with unmet needs", "Focus on what you can do that others cannot"
and
"Look for a job that no one
else is doing - your unique role". What is your response to these
strategies?
A17:
Q18: What competencies are you at
the bottom/start of the s-curve to develop?
A18:
4. Chapter 3 -
Embrace Constraints
Q1: What comes to mind as you
start responding to these questions when reading this quote?
"Whom the gods wish to
destroy, they give unlimited resources." [ Twyla Tharp ]
A1:
Q2: List some synonyms for
"constraint".
A2:
Q3: What is your normal human
response to "constraint"?
A3:
Q4: How can constraints help
us?
A4:
Q5: What is your relationship
with constraints in any/all areas of your life? What particular challenges are
you facing where constraints are an issue in any sense?
A5:
Q6: What do constraints force us
to do?
A6:
Q7: List as many types of
constraint that you can think of
A7:
Q8: Explain the "move from
victim to neutraliser to transformer" process of working with
constraints.
A8:
Q9: How do you normally approach
constraints? For each constraint, how could you leverage the constraint to your
advantage by thinking about then in new ways e.g. linking them to your deepest
goals?
A9:
Q10: Having read the chapter,
what role do stakeholders play in your relationship with constraints?
A10:
Q11: What part do, or could,
emotions play in your relationship with stakeholders?
A11:
Q12: What is the worst
that could happen as you deal with constraints?
A12:
Q13: "The more constraints
you impose the more one frees oneself" (Igor Stravinsky. What comes to
mind when you read this quote?
A13:
5. Chapter 4 -
Battle Entitlement
Q1: "You will achieve the
greatest results in business and career if you drop the word
"achievement" from your vocabulary and replace it with "contribution""
[ Peter Drucker ] What does this say to you?
A1:
Q2: What was your understanding
of the word "entitlement" prior to reading this chapter?
A2:
Q3: List as many cultures that
you or the world would identify you as being part of.
A3:
Q4: What is your understanding
and experience of "cliques"?
A4:
Q5: How at risk do you think you
are of cultural entitlement?
A5:
Q6: What are you planning to do
in response to the book content on cultural entitlement?
A6:
Q7: How would you describe
emotional entitlement?
A7:
Q8: How grateful a
person are you in your own eyes and in the eyes of others?
A8:
Q9: Say something about gratitude
"journalling" in terms of your own experience and any plans now
moving forward.
A9:
Q10: Define "intellectual
entitlement".
A10:
Q11: How would you assess
yourself on intellectual entitlement and any past, current or planned
activities to address this in your own life?
A11:
Q12: What challenged you most in
this chapter and what are you planning to do in response to that
challenge?
A12:
6. Chapter 5 -
Step Down, Back, or Sideways to Grow
Q1: "You have learned
something that always feels at first as if you have lost something"
(George Bernard Shaw)
What does this mean to you?
A1:
Q2: What examples of stepping
down, back or sideways to grow would you cite from your own life?
A2:
Q3: Draw any parallels between
investing in capital and investing in your own life e.g. in time and
cost.
A3:
Q4: Why do we not always seek new
ways of doing things or in coaching others to do what we can do?
A4:
Q5: What can be the costs of not
taking a step back to move forward?
A5:
Q6: What can be the benefits of
taking a step back to move forward?
A6:
Q7: "High-performing companies
develop new capabilities that they do not need now". Discuss generally and
then apply this to your own life (e.g. do you tend to develop yourself in an
immediate need basis or on a future capability basis).
A7:
Q8: Say something about how you
tie your capability back to learning you have done in the past.
A8:
Q9: What are the pros and cons of
stepping back proactively rather than reactively?
A9:
Q10: What is your personal
experience of stepping back proactively rather than reactively?
A10:
Q11: What are you currently doing
to prevent yourself from stagnating at the top of any of your current s-curves?
If nothing, what has this chapter brought to your mind to explore?
A11:
Q12: What are the pros and cons
of stepping back in your currently employing organisation versus changing
employer?
A12:
Q13: How is your life phase
impacting your assessment of your s-curves and the status quo?
A13:
Q14: "Have you ever let go of something that simultaneously
protects and strangles you; something that both defines you, but also
suffocates your evolution? just like a snake shedding its skin, you have to
lose something critical to grow, leaving you vulnerable and exposed in the
process."
[ "Shedding My Skin," Rebecca Jackson ]
What does this say
to you?
A14:
Q15:
What are the metrics that are influencing you currently and are these
changing as you read and apply this book? How have these developed over your
life to date?
A15:
Q16: Where do you
stand on the "status quo" and "success is currently
automatic" way of thinking?
A16:
7. Chapter 6 -
Give Failure Its Due
Q1: "Nothing is a waste of
time if you use the experience wisely " [Auguste Rodin]. Discuss.
A1:
Q2: What negative words or
phrases come to mind when you think about failure?
A2:
Q3: What positive words or
phrases come to mind when you think about failure?
A3:
Q4: How would you describe the
world's view of someone's failure?
A4:
Q5: Why is not failing an issue
to be addressed?
A5:
Q6: What did you take away to
action from the "Learning to fail" section of the book?
A6:
Q7: Read the New York Times piece
"The No-Stats All-Star" about the NBA player Shane Battier.
For additional info on Shane, see him presenting in
this talk. From
the story of his experiences of the NBA Finals
series in 2013 when he did not play at all in 1 of the games and went on to
score multiple 3-point throws in the deciding game see this video of those throws.
What encourages you
about his story? What does this mean for you?
A7:
Q8: How do failure and grief
relate?
A8:
Q9: "Failure itself does not
limit dreaming and innovation, shame does." Discuss.
A9:
Q10: Describe your process of
learning lessons from what you do at work and/or in any of your other life
roles.
A10:
Q11: Say something about you and
quitting in its widest sense.
A11:
Q12: What will you act on from
the "Know when it is the time to quit" section of the chapter?
A12:
Q13: Describe your level of risk
aversity.
A13:
Q14: Try doing the 5-Whys for
something that is currently going on in your life.
A14:
Q15: What was your most impactful
learning from this chapter?
A15:
8. Chapter 7 - Be
Driven By Discovery
Q1: "The only way of
discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way
past them into the impossible" [ Arthur C Clarke ]. Discuss.
A1:
Q2: What do you
understand by "it is unrealistic to believe
that you will reach your goal without detours" and that "flexibility
is key"?
A2:
Q3: Describe
conventional planning and give some examples of how you have used this type of
planning.
A3:
Q4: Describe discovery-driven
planning and give some examples of how you have
used this type of planning.
A4:
Q5: If you were to become more
discovery-driven in your planning, what techniques would you look to put into
practice from this chapter?
A5:
Q6: How would you characterise
your career or business to date using the two approaches to planning in this
chapter?
A6:
Q7: "Insatiable
curiosity and willingness to learn are leading predictors for
success". Does this surprise you? Why? Why not?
A7:
Q8: Assess yourself on the quote
in Q7 including anything you are now thinking about as a result of this
chapter.
A8:
Q9: "You can't
see the top of the s-curve from the bottom" . Does this encourage you or
discourage you? Why?
A9:
Q10: What is your understanding
of "Follow your North Star"?
A10:
Q11: The author
mentions that you die a little if you do not disrupt yourself when you are
called to do so. What is your emotional response to this?
A11:
Q12: What is your
North Star?
A12:
Q13: How is your pursuit of your
North Star going?
A13:
Q14: Why is knowing your
"Why?" helpful?
A14:
Q15: Where do you fit on the
scary and lonely "scale" on you disrupt yourself
journey?
A15:
9. Afterword
Q1: "My passion for surfing
was greater than my fear of sharks." [Bethany Hamilton]
Discuss.
A1:
Q2: A number of examples of
transition in life were mentioned in this chapter. Which of these (or any of
your own) do you resonate most strongly with and why?
A2:
Q3: "The more you disrupt
the easier it becomes". To what extent is this specifically the case with personal
disruption compared with doing anything new?
A3:
Q4: "What a company does
today - merger, spinoff, product launch - shapes the company 10 years out.
Stock prices today affect prices tomorrow." How would you apply that to
your own life?
A4:
Q5: "Learning is not linear,
it is exponential with cumulative and compounding effects." ...
"Momentum creates momentum". To what extent is this your
experience?
A5:
Q6: Are you ready to
jump?
A6:
Q7: What is your overall
assessment of this book?
A7:
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