Hive17 Consulting
  • Hive17 Consulting
  • Core Programs
    • Antifragility Score
    • Keynote Speeches
  • Sustainability
  • Certification
  • Thoughts
  • About Hive17

The World is not Linear - What can we learn from the exponential gap?

1/12/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Yes, I am an avid reader of Wired UK; I like to read their magazines because often they introduce novel topics which help to broaden my view of the world. In one of the last editions, an article was talking about the exponential gap - and I was hooked.

We all heard about exponential growth; and most of us have difficulties to grasp the reality of it. Take the story of Lord Krishna who took a chessboard and asked to fill each square with the double amount of rice. Once you reach the 64th square, there is so much rice on the chessboard that it would fill India with a 75 cm layer of rice. Exponential growth is inconceivable. This is what Hans Rosling also mentions in his book Factfulness; he calls this the third mega misconception - the Straight Line Instinct.

Let's look at the graph below showing a general picture comparing linear and exponential growth. The linear line is steady; with each unit of investment you get a specific return. The exponential line instead stays below the linear line for a very long time; it almost appears not to move up. Then suddenly, the line shoots up and is going past the linear line. What does that mean for us?
Exponential Gap
The first observation I made, is that while on a piece of paper these line are crossing, there is no way to switch from the linear path to the exponential path. Imagine you are cycling on a highway and you are going fast. Suddenly a sports car is rushing past and continuous to accelerate. That's how this crossing feels like!

Allow me to explain how this exponential gap is relevant for your business. What can you learn from this graph for your success?

The first topic is about innovation. We often work in a linear model. That means we are collecting the specifications for a new product or service and then develop a new solution. You are developing one product at a time; the focus is the product and the result is more revenue based on these new products. The product development happens in a controlled way.

​With an exponential mindset, we focus on a deep understanding of the needs of our customers. We will start with one aspect and experiment to create value. With each iteration we strengthen the relationship with our customers; we are able to reach broader aspects where we can deliver valuable services to our customers. And with the insights we are able to address new markets. When we start to look beyond the products and focus on the bigger picture, we are building a structure that supports innovation. This will remove the limitation of growth and exponential return is possible.

The second topic is about leadership capabilities. In many companies we observe a learning & development approach that focuses on the number of people that are going through training interventions. This linear approaches takes a fixed number of people through workshops and expects a small percentage of these people being able to improve their leadership style - that's a fixed number per year.

What does exponential mean for developing leadership qualities? We take the approach to focus on a small number of people and work together with them over a period of 3-6 months with the aim that they fully understand and adopt the new skills. As a result, they will spread their changed leadership behaviour to the groups they are interacting with. They become advocates and ambassadors for the new leadership capabilities. Then with additional support of online self-learning, a much larger group of people will be able to improve their people skills.

Why is the exponential gap so tricky? And what are the important ingredients for exponential growth?
  • the investments done today will only create (exponential) return at a later stage - initially, the growth is very small. Be patient!
  • you might need to spread to many different and small aspects; this will increase your chances of success and also limit your risk.
  • a strong focus is on the big picture of what you want to achieve; the Leitbild, the imagination that is guiding the teams to the future state.
  • and you need a structure and environment that is supporting the change; controlling it will only limit the growth.

Where do you see the opportunity to break free of a linear path? 
​

Sources: 
  • ​The Exponential Age Will Transform Economics Forever, Wired UK, September 2021
  • Factfulness, Hans Rosling, February 2017
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Subscribe
    Receive our monthly themed summaries of our thoughts: click!

    Tim

    Tim is a change practitioner in the area of innovation and excellence. He is working with teams to accelerate innovation, collaboration and agility.

    Categories

    All
    Change Management
    Climate Tech
    Cross Silo Collaboration
    Data Driven Decisions
    Design Thinking
    Digital Transformation
    Entrepreneurship
    Headspace
    Hybrid Innovation
    Intrinsic Motivation
    Lean Startup
    Mindfulness
    Neuroscience
    Operational Excellence
    People Excellence
    Positive Leadership
    Productivity
    Slowdown To Speedup

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2017

© 2023 Hive17 Consulting Pte Ltd, Singapore (201318853R)
  • Hive17 Consulting
  • Core Programs
    • Antifragility Score
    • Keynote Speeches
  • Sustainability
  • Certification
  • Thoughts
  • About Hive17