7 Levels Of Change (Part 8 of 9) - Level 7: Doing Things That Can’t Be Done
Table of contents for 7 Levels Of Change
- The 7 Levels Of Change - Introduction (Part 1 of 9)
- 7 Levels Of Change (Part 2 of 9) - Level 1: Effectiveness
- 7 Levels Of Change (Part 3 of 9) - Level 2: Efficiency
- 7 Levels Of Change (Part 4 of 9) - Level 3: Improving
- 7 Levels Of Change (Part 5 of 9) - Level 4: Cutting
- 7 Levels Of Change (Part 6 of 9) - Level 5: Copying
- 7 Levels Of Change (Part 7 of 9) - Level 6: Doing Things No One Else Is Doing
- 7 Levels Of Change (Part 8 of 9) - Level 7: Doing Things That Can’t Be Done
- 7 Levels Of Change (Part 9 of 9) - Bringing It All Together
The eighth in a nine-part series on Rolf Smith’s 7 Levels of Change, I introduce the seventh level of change - Different (Doing Things That Can’t Be Done).
Part 2 - Level 1: Effectiveness
What separates Level 7 change from Levels 1-6? As diverse as they are, Levels 1-6 share one thing in common - they work in what is known to be possible. Not always practical, not aways easy, and not always concrete - but possible. Level 7 pushes us into the realm of the impossible - what no one believes can be done. But it’s a transient level - because once you do it, it’s no longer impossible. You might want to think of Level 7 as ‘Making The Impossible Possible.”
What do you consider impossible? For me, rock climbing was impossible until September of 2006. Up until then my fear of heights and perspective on rock climbing in general had convinced me there was no way I could do it. But all it took was a guide and some basic instruction and away I went.
Rock climbing is no longer impossible for me, but not all rock climbing is created equal - it can be relatively easy or relatively exasperating. I recently joined a local gym that has a climbing wall. The wall is straight up and has routes of various difficulties, none as easy as I had climbed last year. Due to the lack of sufficient handholds I could not even do the easiest route until last week, when my hand strength caught up and I finally figured out an easier way to do it. Now I can climb it with ease. But there are eight other routes that exceed my ability - to me they are impossible. Or they will be until I achieve sufficient expertise to climb them.
The key is to develop the mindset that even though something is impossible now, it can be made possible through tenacity, creative thinking, and focused effort. Make the impossible possible and fortune and fame await.
In business, doing the impossible is seldom considered. As risky as Level 6 is, Level 7 is even riskier. But from a creative thinking standpoint it’s a lot more fun, because there’s nothing to lose - free your mind and think of everything that can’t be done, but if it could, would change everything.
Some examples of Level 7 change:
- The first airplane
- The laser
- The light bulb
- Open-heart surgery
- The Cubs winning the World Series
KAI adapters view Level 7 as insane, and experience great discomfort with the notion of casting aside all creative inhibitions. KAI innovators enjoy the challenge of Level 7 thinking.
Thinking
To get impossible results, you have to do things that can’t be done. To do things that can’t be done, you have to practice breakout, imaginative thinking. You have to totally eliminate any tendencies towards pre-judging your ideas and free your thinking totally. Your motto should be: “They said _____ can’t be done - but we can find a way to do it.”
Wouldn’t it be great if we had an invisible airplane, like Wonder Woman’s? We do - it’s called the Stealth Bomber. It started with the idea of doing the impossible - making an airplane invisible.
Who
Like Level 6 thinkers, Level 7 thinkers are high KAI innovators, mostly Myers-Briggs types xNxP. They abhor detailed work, challenge structure, and look for ways to evade rules. They are visionaries, big-picture thinkers, and look for ways to disrupt the status-quo. They create unique work environments and have little patience for bureaucracy.
Ideas
As discussed above, Level 7 ideas come from unrestrained thinking. It’s often a function of asking a series of questions that force you to question what you think you know about the limitations of industry, society, and even science. The crazier the ideas, the better. It’s also important to proliferate ideas at this level, because not all crazy ideas can readily be converted into practical solutions. Level 7 ideas are often the results of integrating various positives from several different far-out notions that attack the problem from different perspectives.
Tools
- Challenging Assumptions - Challenging assumptions was introduced in Level 6 but can also be used to produce Level 7 ideas.
- Level 7 Questions:
- “What is impossible today, but if were possible would fundamentally change the way we do business?”
- “What would solve our problem, but has absolutely no way of being implemented due to (science, laws, etc)?”
- “If we can’t have _____, what would do in a pinch?”
- Crazy Ideas - I posted this tool last week for the first time. It is probably the most important single tool you can use to generate Level 7 ideas that work. The key is to capture the essence of the idea and move from abstract to concrete.
We have reached the end of the line. My last installment will tie everything together and suggest some practical ways to put the 7 Levels to work.
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