Regal Unlimited invited Prof Paddy Padmanabhan, a distinguished INSEAD Professor and co-author of the book, “The Phoenix Encounter Method” for an interactive webinar on decoding the nuances of the phoenix mindset.
The topic gains extreme relevance and significance in these unprecedented times where organizational leadership is being tested by the relentless waves of CHANGE. The COVID has necessitated the disruption, which in – turn has, as Paddy beautifully phrased it “put the urgency of doing to survive on steroids” The phoenix mindset has ‘urgency of doing’ at the heart of the framework.
It comes as no surprise that legacy firms are equally vulnerable to becoming obsolete, being outrun by competitors, being disrupted by nimble startups from seemingly unrelated industries, thanks to the amorphous industrial boundaries. In such times, the Phoenix Encounter Method becomes an eye-opener (a tool of resurrection). The basic premise is concerned with asking powerful questions (objective confrontation and provocation) to the senior leaders, and one such question which Paddy mentioned was, “Can you list out three things which you can do to completely destroy your OWN business? (resources being abundant)” Kill your own business before the competitor does it because “Somewhere, someone is working on a product that can make your product obsolete.”
Paddy then went on to share few tips on how to develop a phoenix mindset; tips like proactive scanning of the environment, radical ideation factoring in completely opposite viewpoints, the C-suite developing two DNAs, and be ambidextrous in their approach to come out of the ‘shell of inertia.’ Paddy sprinkled the session by giving amusing real-life examples of organizations and leaders who have successfully transitioned and adopted the ‘Phoenix Mindset’, truly they have gone through “a veritable firestorm of change to be re-born.”
The session concluded with some interesting questions from the panelists, questions ranging from; knowing the applicability of the Phoenix encounter method for start-ups, how often this extremely powerful exercise should be undertaken, how can organizations embrace change and navigate it. The organization must choose, battling the waves of change and crisis do organizations want to become Dodo (extinct) or face the flames and re-configure your former self (Phoenix)
To read the book: https://www.phoenixencountermethod.com/resources/
To know more about the author: https://www.professorpaddy.com/
