Do you think exponentially or linearly?

leadership May 14, 2020

Exponential growth has currently become very prominent with the spread of the coronavirus: a small cause (the bartender in Ischgl in Austria) had an exponential effect (thousands of infected people who, in turn, infected thousands).

So far so clear. The problem is that our brain has enormous difficulty processing exponential connections. Instinctively, we always try to draw linear conclusions. This is where the gigantic misconceptions at the beginning of the corona spread came from (and some heads of state have still not understood it today).

This insight is extremely relevant for successful leadership. The most successful organizations are led with exponential leadership. The less successful ones, however, think linear.

If this seems too abstract to you now, here are a few examples of how you can leverage the exponential potential for your team or company and thereby create a considerable competitive advantage:

  1. Cultural change. If you want to make your culture more powerful, i.e. install a winning team culture where everyone takes full responsibility and change is driven forward rapidly, it is crucial to operate a few important levers that have a strong impact on many. These may be completely new forms of communication, the public intolerance of certain behaviours and more. These signs make it clear to everyone that a lot is going to change. 
  2. Market development. Success in the market often follows the so-called flywheel principle: the more successful you are, the more successful you become. Exactly for this reason, some salespeople make 10x or 100x as many sales as others in similar environments. This is why some companies or business areas grow exponentially. It is important to operate the decisive levers instead of trying everything at once.
  3. Personal growth. Here, the exponential rule applies in particular: While a single book or seminar usually has no great effect on personal success, 10 books already have a much greater impact. And the next 20 books, seminars or the like often increase the effect tenfold. This is exactly why those who are a thousand times more successful than the average do not have to learn a thousand times more things, but perhaps 50 times as much.

I work on this, and more of such topics, with my clients to achieve exponential success. ➔ More information here.

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