5 Essential Skills to Embrace Disruption & Innovation
Are you leading the disruption—or is it leading you?
Welcome to the age of unpredictability, where yesterday’s solutions no longer solve today’s problems. From the Printing Press (the 1440s) to artificial intelligence (AI) and automation (Present Day), disruption, although chaotic, has brought about significant change. Moreover, disruption is a recurring force that, at every juncture, continues to reshape history.
At its core, disruption occurs whenever a new idea, technology, or way of thinking radically changes the status quo, making existing systems, products, or practices obsolete.
While often uncomfortable, disruption has been essential to progress and innovation.
Nevertheless, disruption is inevitable and necessary. While it can destabilize, history shows it creates space for reinvention, opportunity, and growth. For leaders and teams, the real challenge is not avoiding disruption but learning how to embrace it, adapt to it, and thrive through it.
Innovation is creating something new, whether a product, service, process, or business model.
Innovation represents progress and improvement, often building upon existing foundations. It can be incremental, radical, or transformational. Lastly, innovation is survival.
Let’s talk about the five essential skills that will help you not only weather the storm but dance in the rain.
1. Adaptability: The Foundation of Resilient Leadership
The ability to pivot during global disruptions allows us to seek alternative measures that catapult us into new thinking and being, resulting in new realities.
According to McKinsey, companies that quickly adapted their business models during recent global disruptions were three times more likely to emerge stronger than their peers. Adaptability isn't just about surviving change—it's about thriving because of it.
Think of it as your leadership immune system: the stronger it is, the better you can fight off threats and capitalize on new opportunities.
For example, the Army is transitioning to the Army Contract Writing System (ACWS), an agile operating system that replaces two legacy systems. This system allows for contracting efficiency and innovation through automation, and I completed training on it last week. As the Army pivots, it is also undergoing a governmental reorganization following the election.
Despite our mission, most of us wonder how long we will have our jobs. Those smart enough to have contingency plans are the most insulated against disruption. Yet, this has been the most significant change we have experienced since COVID-19.
Why It Matters:
Disruption isn’t a one-time event. It’s a series of waves, and you’ve got to be a pro surfer. Adaptable leaders reframe setbacks as setups and stay composed when the unexpected hits.
Building Your Adaptability Muscles:
Embrace the beginner’s mindset: channeling your five-year-old self and approaching new situations with curiosity rather than judgment, such as asking “why” and “what if” questions that change the status quo.
Practice deliberate discomfort: Routinely expose yourself to new experiences that push you outside your comfort zone. Take a class on something you know nothing about. Switch up your daily routine. Use your non-dominant hand for simple tasks. These small exercises build neural pathways that make adapting to bigger changes easier.
Run "pre-mortems": Before implementing a new strategy, imagine it has failed spectacularly a year from now. What went wrong? This mental exercise helps you identify potential obstacles and plan contingencies before they're needed.
As the delightfully irreverent management thinker Tom Peters says: "If you're not confused, you're not paying attention." Embracing that confusion—and finding clarity within it—is the hallmark of adaptive leadership.
2. Critical Thinking: Cutting Through the Noise
“Don’t believe everything you think.”
Critical thinking is your leadership super filter in a world where data is abundant, and clarity is scarce. Separating fact from fiction gives us a grip on reality so we can understand our options when making critical decisions.
Critical thinking isn't just about being smart—it's about being deliberately thoughtful—the difference between reacting to information and responding with purpose and clarity.
Regardless of the Army’s plans, I will not allow myself to be influenced by outside forces. I am completing the needed renovations in my home while planning my retirement for July 31, 2026, and not a minute sooner.
Why It Matters:
Fast decisions are valuable—but only when they're well-informed. Critical thinking becomes essential in today's environment, where we're flooded with data and bombarded with contradictory viewpoints. It allows you to pause deliberately, process information thoroughly, and proceed with wisdom rather than reactivity.
This thoughtful decision-making approach separates leaders who merely react to disruption from those who strategically navigate it.
Sharpening Your Critical Thinking Edge:
Question your assumptions: The most dangerous words in leadership are "we've always done it this way." Regularly audit your assumptions and ask what evidence supports (or contradicts) them.
Seek diverse perspectives: Our brains are wired for confirmation bias—we search for information that supports our beliefs. Combat this by intentionally seeking viewpoints that challenge your thinking. If everyone on your team agrees with you all the time, you've got a problem.
Slow down: Warren Buffett doesn't make investment decisions in the heat of the moment, nor should you make critical business choices that way. Build reflection time into your decision-making process.
As one CEO told me recently, "In the age of AI and automation, the most valuable human skill is not providing answers—it's asking the right questions." Critical thinking helps you do precisely that.
3. Creativity: The Spark That Ignites Innovation
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein
Creativity isn’t just for artists and designers. It’s for leaders who need to find new paths when old ones are blocked. And let’s face it, the map has changed.
Creativity is most prevalent when we use all five senses to pique our imagination beyond our current understanding.
Remember, creativity isn't about having more ideas than everyone else—it's about having better filters to recognize the good ones when they appear.
Why It Matters:
Innovation doesn’t come from playing it safe. It comes from exploring the unknown, asking new questions, and embracing the weird idea no one else wants to say out loud.
Cultivating Your Creative Genius:
Cross-pollinate ideas: Some of the most innovative solutions come from applying concepts from one field to challenges in another. Elon Musk doesn't just know about rockets or cars—he draws from physics, engineering, design, and countless other disciplines.
Create psychological safety: Innovation requires risk-taking, and people don't take risks when they fear punishment for failure. Foster an environment where "smart failures" are celebrated as learning opportunities.
Schedule unstructured thinking time: Your best ideas probably don't come while staring at spreadsheets. They emerge in the shower, on walks, or during other moments of mental relaxation. Block "thinking time" on your calendar and guard it religiously.
Remember, creativity isn't about having more ideas than everyone else—it's about having better filters to recognize the good ones when they appear.
4. Technological Proficiency: Leading in the Digital Age
You don’t need to love tech, but you do need to speak its language. Leaders who resist digital tools will find themselves leading from the back of the pack.
Working smarter rather than harder requires an affinity for technology, which enables us to keep up with daily demands while remaining productive. I have recently started using Notion, which significantly improved my confidence and productivity.
Why It Matters:
According to the World Economic Forum, by 2025, machines will handle 50% of all work tasks. Understanding how to integrate tech into your strategy is no longer optional—it’s your leadership edge.
Upgrading Your Tech IQ:
Adopt the "learn one, use one, teach one" approach: Each quarter, commit to learning about one new technology, implementing one in your workflow, and teaching one to someone else. This keeps you engaged with the digital landscape in practical ways.
Reverse mentoring: Find a tech-savvy team member and ask them to update you on emerging tech trends. This will build your knowledge and strengthen cross-generational bonds in your organization.
Focus on implications, not specifications: You don't need to understand how blockchain works technically, but you should know how it might disrupt supply chains, contracts, or financial transactions in your industry.
As one tech CEO hilariously said, "Not understanding technology as a modern leader is like being a sea captain who doesn't believe in water—you might stay afloat for a while, but eventually, you're going under."
5. Emotional Intelligence: The Heart of Effective Leadership
While AI might be coming for many job functions, there's one area where humans still reign supreme: emotional intelligence. According to the Harvard Business Review, leaders with high EQ are 45% more likely to succeed. This human-centered skill becomes even more critical in times of disruption and uncertainty.
Emotional intelligence is about navigating the complex social dynamics that define any organization. It's recognizing that even the most brilliant strategy will fail if the humans implementing it don't feel understood, valued, and motivated.
Elevating Your Emotional Intelligence:
Practice mindful listening: Next time someone's speaking to you, count to three in your head before responding. This simple practice prevents you from formulating your reply while they're still talking, allowing you to hear what they're saying truly.
Develop emotion vocabulary: Many of us have a limited emotional vocabulary (happy, sad, angry). Expand your ability to identify and name emotions with greater precision in yourself and others.
Seek feedback on your impact: EQ lives in the gap between your intentions and impact. Regularly ask trusted colleagues how your actions and communications are performing.
Remember that emotions run high during disruptions. Your ability to proactively acknowledge, address, and channel those emotions will determine whether your team crumbles under pressure or rises to meet challenges head-on.
The Path Forward: From Skill Development to Leadership Mastery
These five skills—adaptability, critical thinking, creativity, technological proficiency, and emotional intelligence—aren't just random competencies. They form an interconnected system that allows you to survive disruption and harness its power to drive innovation.
The good news? Unlike IQ, which remains relatively fixed throughout life, each skill can be developed with deliberate practice. The journey from competence to mastery isn't a straight line—it's a series of experiments, failures, insights, and breakthroughs.
Leadership in the age of disruption isn't about having all the answers—it's about having the right skills to find those answers, often in unexpected places. As you develop these five essential competencies, you'll respond to and actively shape change.
Are you ready to lead the disruption—or let it lead you?
Excellent, thank you!