Leadership in Chaos: 26th edition. severed, soldier or scout?, future trust. Hi 👋, welcome back to our 26th edition 🙌. "Taking off is optional. Landing is not." Nassim Taleb Culture: severed. Season 2 of Severance is showing on Apple TV. It centres on a company (Lumon Industries) where job volunteers undertake a surgical procedure that splits their consciousness in two. Your work-you (your innie) and your home-you (your outie), which never meet. The work they undertake on the “severed floor” might be best described as one of David Graeber’s Bullsh•t Jobs. On one hand, Severance reflects the struggles many face in the modern office, balancing work and home life. As this piece suggests, life isn’t meant to be split, it's meant to be whole. And who are we if we don’t bring all of ourselves to work. On the other hand, it reflects a deeper issue of meaning, the threat of dehumanisation, and the misuse of technology. A thought for leaders: Severance is in it’s second season, and a popular watch. It represents some of the issues people feel and face today. As leaders, we can’t ignore that. Great leaders ensure people avoid feeling like that, by providing meaning and purpose. And as this 23 year old study on life satisfaction found, purpose is better for longevity, than life satisfaction. It’s nice to feel happy today, but it’s more important to have something to strive for tomorrow. Great leaders provide that meaning, and that “why”, and as Victor Frankl said "he who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." Change: soldier or scout? In today’s environment, with constant dizzying change, our intellectual operating systems get almost daily updates. Ideas we may have clung to, rapidly outdate. In this new world order, survival is more about intellectual flexibility and humility, than ever before. To understand whether you have it, Daniel Pink outlines here (from Warren Berger’s The Book of Beautiful Questions) 4 key questions you need to ask yourself : Do you think like a soldier (defend beliefs at all costs) or a scout (explore new ideas)? Do you want to win—or understand? Do you believe in truth, no matter the cost? Do you seek out disagreement? Do you get uncomfortable & have your views challenged? Do you enjoy changing your mind? Is it satisfying or soul destroying? A thought for leaders: Some leaders still believe intelligence is about being right. But great ones know that it’s really about knowing when you’re wrong, and being open to changing your mind. As John Henry Patterson said, “Only fools and dead men don’t change their minds. Fools won’t and dead men can’t.” Today’s great leaders are great learners. They know that surviving and thriving in chaos, means constantly rethinking assumptions, revising opinions and thinking more like scout’s, than soldiers. Leadership: future trust. The World Economic Forum released their 2025 Future of Work Report outlining workplace trends in the next decade. Unsurprisingly, tech, AI and robotics dominate. It’s a scary read. The share of “people” tasks, for example, is expected to decline from 47% to 33%, while 39% of workers' existing…
FlowIrelandAdmin8th April 2025