Imagining a better world
By Brian Byrne 24th Oct 2019
As I read through the Sunday papers, there was one train of thought that was consistent about Irelands mauling at the hands of New Zealand the previous day. We hadn’t evolved our gameplan. We stuck to the tried and tested methods that helped the team reach the highs of 2018—a Grand Slam, a series win in Australia and beating the All Blacks. Some of the headlines included words like Predictable. Ineffective. Risk-Averse. Unambitious. Reductive. A pretty damning indictment in any walk of life.
When you have success with one methodology, it’s tempting to keep using it. But its a strategy doomed to fail. Let’s be honest if you do the same thing, the same way, over and over again, no matter how successful, a malaise will set in. There’s no challenge. Standards drop and targets aren’t met. Couple that with your competitors evolving their methods and all of a sudden, you’re not so bloody successful any more!
For many organisations, change of any kind is hard to take. Learning something new is uncomfortable. Beth Comstock author of Imagine it Forward: Courage, Creativity and the Power of Change, writes that because of uncertainty, people are less willing to try new things. “To be innovative, you have to learn to be comfortable with some level of maybe.” And unfortunately, lots of businesses aren’t willing to take on that level of uncertainty. As a result, a culture develops that doesn’t encourage creativity, rewards problem solving or taking risks.

BETH COMSTOCK
Comstock, a director at Nike and former President of the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, says its essential management teams take a positive view of change. To achieve this, she believes that three factors are critical.
1. Give Yourself Permission to Imagine
When you embark on a journey of change, Comstock says, you’ll generally encounter two types of people. Goalkeepers are those that help you achieve your objectives, and Gatekeepers are those that will say ‘no’ to everything. They are the Gatekeepers of the status quo and often act out of fear. The appropriate response to this type of attitude is resilience and a determination not to be discouraged. Positive change comes about when “you imagine a better future for yourself, your customers, your company—and even the world.”
2. Embrace Discovery
Comstock says this one is all about the joy of living and working—and is her favourite of the three. She writes “Discovery is about making the world your classroom. If you follow your curiosity, it will take you almost anywhere where change is happening and where the future is revealing itself.” Comstock advocates looking for patterns and trends and admonishes executives who she argues don’t spend enough time in the real world! She recommends “focusing on threes”. When you are out in the world, and you see something for the first time that interests you, take note. If you see it a second time, ask yourself if its a coincidence. But if you see it a third time, realise that this is probably a trend and something that you could learn from and possibly implement in your own job or company.
3. Make the Change Happen
Having a positive vision for change, according to Comstock, is worthless if it’s not pursued wholeheartedly. Many organisations begin by hiring transformation officers, and that’s good because it starts the process, drives momentum and makes people accountable. But, she explains, it will not work if delegating change to one person is all that’s done. For real change to take place, everybody needs to be involved, and feedback from all departments and staff must be embraced. “Management, as we once knew it is obsolete. It is no longer a control function if it ever was. Today you have to lead with vision and empower your teams to figure things out.”

The last quoted sentence seems like it was explicitly written with Joe Schmidt in mind. A constant criticism of the Irish Rugby team was that they were so structured and process-driven that when things went wrong on the pitch, they couldn’t figure out what to do. Imagine if the Ireland management team had embraced some of the innovative ideas outlined above? Might we be in a Rugby World Cup semi-final? A final?
Now if only Joe had given himself permission to imagine a better world!

Brian Byrne is a graphic designer and founder of Lands.
Sign up to our newsletter at the bottom of the page and you'll never miss a post!
Recent Posts

20x20
Thursday, March 12th we are hosting our first 20x20 event at The Sky and the Ground in Wexford. Join Fuse:d, the 100 Archive and a host of creative people and businesses...

The Culture Collections No.13
This collection includes Annie Albers, Buster Keaton, Richard Kindersly, The Yoto Papers, Ricardo Boffil’s La Muralla Roja, music from Eluvium and more...

Free Strategy Download
For regular readers of the blog, you know how passionate I am about brand strategy. A couple of weeks ago, I posted a Brand Strategy Checklist...

The Culture Collections No.12
This collection includes Billie Holiday, If Posters won Oscars, Dust to Digital, Camille Walala and Lego, South Korean Film Classics, Linda McCartney Polaroids and more…

Change Makers
If you get your messaging right, if it resonates with enough people, and you repeat it again and again then you are on to a winner! Sinn Fein are now the most popular party in Ireland...

The Culture Collections No.11
This collection includes Lucienne Day, Aphex Twin, Radiohead Public Library, The Plot Against America, Print Punch, Swimming Under Glaciers and more…

Brand Strategy Checklist
So what actually goes into a brand strategy document? The list below contains what we include in our strategy documents and what should you have in yours?

The Culture Collections No.10
This collection includes Paul Rand, Anna Burns, Irma Boom, Music from Devendra Banhart, Type Notes, The True History of the Kelly Gang and more…

Your Vision Realised
In essence, brand strategy is how you shape the perception of your brand. It’s a statement of who you are, why you exist, where you want to get to in the future....

The Culture Collections No.9
This collection includes Winter Papers, Bantry store Forest and Flock, Vaughan Oliver, Fleabag, the great Milton Glaser, Essential Movies of 2020 and more....

Christmas Giveaway
As its Christmas, I'm offering a free brand strategy engagement to one business early in the new year! The offer includes a Brand Strategy workshop and a comprehensive brand document...

The Culture Collections No.8
This collection includes Cow House Studios, new music from Beck Hansen, Irish magazine Turf and Grain, Corita Kent, Anthony Burrill and more...

Design Is Strategy Amplified
Following on from my last blog post, I want to give you an idea of how brand strategy is implemented at Lands and how it's the basis for effective identity design....

The Culture Collections No.7
This collection includes Nick Cave, Muriel Cooper, Conor O'Leary, the Tesla Cybertruck, Leonard Cohen's posthumous album and more ...

Roadmap For Success
A continuing topic of conversation among the participants is brand strategy—the difficulties people have explaining it to their clients and as a result, how to sell it...

The Culture Collections No.6
This collection includes lessons from Paula Scher, Tonic of the Sea, new music from FKA Twigs, Bean and Goose and more ...

Finding Your Niche
A common topic of discussion amongst the students is niching down, a strategy that Seth himself, advocates...

The Culture Collections No.5
This collection includes Dieter Rams, 100 Archive, Vivian Maier, Lankum, Oliver Jeffers, The Mandalorian and more...

Imagining a Better World
When you have success with one methodology, it's tempting to keep using it. But its a strategy doomed to fail. ...

The Culture Collections No.4
This collection includes Chris Morris, new music from Poliça, Martin Parr, Judy & Punch, Henri Matisse pottery and more...

Easing Fear Through Charm and Wit
Its Friday night, Michael has just settled down to binge-watch the new Netflix show he’s been dying to see...

The Culture Collections No.3
This collection includes Wim Crouwel, Mitch Epstein, Basciville, PJ Harvey, The Lighthouse and more ...

Culture Night: Designing Wexford
As I drove through Wexford on Friday night, it quickly became apparent that the town was packed. Culture Night was back ...

The Culture Collections No.2
This collection includes new music from Angel Olsen, Cove Magazine, Brother Hubbard, Boundary Brewery and more...

Swim Goals
I swam my first ever kilometre on Saturday. Well, 1.2 kilometres to be exact. A sea swim, with waves...

The Culture Collections No.1
A new feature where we regularly share things we love from the world of art, design, music, film...

The Ogilvy Sign
A man helps another man through the beauty of words and an understanding of the human spirit...

Your Brand is Good for Business
How can a brand be good for business I hear you ask? Aren't businesses and brands the same thing...

Teach What You Know
I just finished reading the excellent 'Show Your Work' by Austin Kleon...

Welcome to Lands
Lands is the rebranded design studio of Wexford native Brian Byrne...
0 Comments