Improvement – Luke McMeeken-Ruscoe

When Everyone Zigs, Zag: The Power of Unconventional Thinking

We often underestimate the power of rethinking our assumptions.

When facing a resource disadvantage, playing by the same rules is a losing game.

The most effective solutions often lie outside the box. When everyone zigs, consider zagging.

Traditions: We often assume they’re rooted in ancient wisdom. But sometimes, they’re the product of unintended consequences & clever campaigns.

The story of Santa Claus is a powerful reminder. Check out this insightful piece

Averages give you a sense of the dataset as a whole.

They don’t tell you anything about the dataset though.

To tell a good story you need to know the distribution of that data as well as the average.

A better story moves more people than numbers on a page.

Improvement isn’t only found by being better at what you do.

It can be found by doing less of what is not needed.

Sometimes subtraction is addition.

In a world of perfection, being wrong is a moral failure.

Luckily, we don’t live in a perfect world yet acknowledging mistakes is not encouraged.

Learning doesn’t happen without mistakes, don’t fear them.

What if we didn’t define people by what we think they can’t do?

Everything in this world was never done at some point. Someone had to be crazy enough to attempt it.

Don’t get trapped in the frameworks of outdated ideas.

In a time of constant motion, taking a moment to pause and think can be judged as indulgent.

Taking time to think should be a prerequisite to leadership, not a challenge to it.

Do the right thing is better than doing more things.

Ideas that have been around don’t mean they are right.

Updating your ideas given new evidence and information isn’t a sign that you were wrong the whole time.

It is a sign that courage to improve and change.

Data is not reality, it is a slice of what we can and want to observe.

If we only value what we can count we miss the chance to learn what is meaningful rather that measurable.

Context is as important as data.

Think about the long game.

The decision you make will have ripples of effects that can be seen and unseen.

A small choice can have huge consequences.