As most of you know, I am a scientist by education and that perspective has influenced the way I see things and how my thinking attacks the problems we are blessed to solve. Which brings me to this idea. If we look at companies and organizations as “systems” it makes them subject to the various laws that impact systems. One of these is ENTROPY. Entropy is from the Second Law of Thermodynamics and basically involves how systems run down or loose their energy.
Companies face this problem all the time. The market shifts, they loose talent, they become trapped with a small group of products or services, all of which point towards conditions of entropy. So if a system heads towards entropy, its very potential becomes dissipated.
Companies can do something about this and we have been grateful to be involved in quite a few “anti-entropy” programs. Here is the principle action that will stop the drain of potential: LEARNING! A company with a strong educational program, one specifically designed around creating and developing specific skill sets is less likely to run out of energy. More and more companies and organizations are allocating both resources and time to learning initiatives than ever before. At Creative Ventures we are involved in five learning programs either as curriculum designers or as instructors. But it’s not just our clients:
- At Fathom, a growing digital marketing firm in Ohio, they recognized that “letting their skills flatline” was a key problem impacting their growth. “If you aren’t a learner, you are the reason the company is not growing towards its potential.” You need to constantly be supporting a “sharpening your skills” mindset.
- In the upcoming book; How Google Works, you will discover a huge part of their success is their learning programs. They look for people who are constantly learning and they want to be the source for their curiosity.
If you don’t have the size or resources to create a specific learning division, there are tons of other options ranging from industry sources to online learning.
Stop the forces of entropy by creating a strategy that pushes the leverage found in learning and skill enhancement!
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