Mike Natalizio, president and CEO of insurance brokerage and business advisory firm HNi in New Berlin, recently wrote a manifesto publication titled, “Complexity Unraveled: The Art of Leading in a Complex World.” Natalizio says business leaders must tune out the noise to change the game.
“In the past 25 years, the world has been upended. Everything is different, newer, quicker and better. Most of all, it’s more complex. And that complexity is mounting faster and faster, day after day. There are some who thrive in this environment, but far more become trapped in the complexity, failing to seize the opportunity to create something meaningful.
“Leaders often succumb to complexity at the expense of their ‘Blue Sky Time’ – when we take the time to just be, reflect and focus. This is where big ideas and breakthroughs are born. This is where the magic happens. But how much time do we have to actually slow down and think?
“Ask yourself: when you find a free half hour in your day, do you let your mind drift to the Big Blue Sky? Or, instead, do you refresh your email every five minutes – or better yet, call a meeting?
“It wasn’t just meetings and e-mail that had me trapped, it was also this place called ‘the office.’ The place you go and stack papers, organize stuff and get caught working IN the business rather than ON it. My solution was to get rid of my office. I no longer have one. I’m office-less. With my laptop or iPad I can work from wherever I want, whether that’s HNi, Starbucks or a client’s parking lot.
“We desperately need Blue Sky Time to fulfill our most important responsibility: thinking. This is the key to winning the complexity war.”
