Designing for development is a critical leadership skill. If we properly design our social and physical environments, we can evolve as humans and societies, taking into account important leadership frameworks. This is a fun way to do it.
Leadership Principle: Environment Causes Evolution, So Design It Carefully
Animals show us how we can evolve by adapting to our environment. Polar bears have hollow white fur in a double layer for protection from the cold and camouflage in the snow. Meerkats have dark fur around their eyes to reduce glare from the sun and to see long distances. Tigers have stripes to help them blend in in the jungle.
Some intelligent animals design their environment to support them. In Canada, I have pulled many canoes over a beaver dam. Beavers build dams by cutting down (more like chewing) trees to stop the flow of the stream or river and thus catch fish.
Human beings are the greatest deliberate creators of their own environment. We have commandeered much of the planet’s resources to meet our own needs. Not always with a great result, yes.
We need to evolve as a species to solve the problems we have created. Paradoxically, we can design our environments to stimulate our development. That’s how.
Our environment needs new skills and leadership skills if we are to deal with the complexity and volatility we have created. To help us evolve quickly, we can design environments that stimulate our thinking and leadership skills.
Leadership Principle: Design Your Success
1. Physical space
When it comes to environmental design, this is the obvious one. Everything in our physical world has a message. Marie Kondo told us to evaluate everything through the “Does it cause joy?” lens. I would add, “Does it make me think and feel differently?” “Challenge my flaw?”
Some examples are: my 1 year, 10 year, and 100 year goal list. These keep me focused on what is most important. Art that is challenging or unusual does something similar. Photos of the planet from space also remind me to think globally.
2. Social Space
Who we hang out with is critical to our emotional well-being. Our most intimate relationships must go through the “do I feel happy and loved around you?” lens. We can also choose people who challenge what is possible. I recently met colleagues in Melbourne, Colin Ellis and Jaquie Scammel. Both people are dedicated professionals with big visions and an absolute belief in serving their clients. His energy was contagious and uplifting! By stretching our own possibilities, we can be lifted up by the success of other people.
Choose people who challenge you to stretch.
3. Space to think
This space has two concepts: space to think and what fills your thought space.
Space to think: Our brain needs time to process all the stimulation it receives in our fast, blinking, instantaneous world. We need to add natural scenery and no screen time to our daily experience. We need to let our brain rest and give it time to process all the gigabytes of data. You need to make connections and consolidate memories. Giving the brain a break from consuming things is crucial here.
What fills our thought space: Read a lot, especially from people who disagree with you. It is one of the best ways to develop perspective.
Reduce garbage. There is so much to offer on social media and in the news to stimulate our dopamine-addicted brain. Stay away from it, or at least put some strong boundaries around it.
When we upgrade our environments, we can’t help but think and feel differently. This is how we bring about our deliberate evolution. So let’s be intentional; be, think and do bigger and better by designing environments that demand it of us.
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