FROM OUR CEO
Do You Still Follow the Pre-Pandemic Maps?
September 5th, 2022 | From our CEO
This weekend, I picked up my 14-old daughter from a school camp 75 mins away from our home.
I always ask Google for help, when I go to a place, I have never been before. And so, I did this time… until I saw a road sign to something, I knew was right next to my end-location and would allow me to see a beautiful part of Denmark that I had never been to before. I went off-track, had a great awe experience, a small adventure and arrived maximum 1 minute later at my end destination.
Grateful that I had listened to my intuition and my backbone knowledge of beautiful places in Denmark.
The experience reminded me of a newspaper story I read a couple of weeks ago – yes, a printed one – I am that old.
“Turn Right Here”
In this story, an 80-year-old was on his way to the summer house he had been going to since his early childhood – by train, by bicycle, and by car. Approximately every 2 to 3 weeks. In the car with him was his grand kids that had picked up from his apartment in Copenhagen. In the story, he describes how he suddenly from the back of the car shouted: “Turn right here”, as he knew a short cut. The grandkids without looking up from their phones refused stating “Google tells us to go straight ahead”. His decadelong experience was not listened to.
“Look up”, “Enjoy the Journey” and “Take a Different Path”
With stories like these I wonder, what we are missing every single day, as we are so busy following the maps and instructions that we forget to ‘look up’, ‘enjoy the journey’ and maybe take a different path that makes more sense, then the one we originally set out to follow.
Where we do not listen to the wisdom in the form of intuition, backbone knowledge, and decade long experience that is readily available, but rely too much on what we already know.
“When the Map is not Reflecting the Terrain. Follow the Terrain.”
In a volatile and uncertain world like the one we are living in right now, ‘maps’ and the ‘rules of the game’ are getting redrawn. Collaboration has shrunk. Fragmentation is all over. Burnout is widespread. Uncertainty is higher than ever.
I believe it will be crucial for all of us to nurture the ability to seek out and engage with hidden intangible wisdom, listen carefully, and then be ready to go off-track. To not follow the map. In our private lives and in the business world.
Do You Still Follow the Pre-Pandemic Maps?
One of my favorite principles say: “When the map is not reflecting the terrain. Follow the terrain.” Do you follow the terrain? – or do you still follow the pre-pandemic maps?
FROM OUR CEO
Do You Still Follow the Pre-Pandemic Maps?
September 5th, 2022 | From our CEO
This weekend, I picked up my 14-old daughter from a school camp 75 mins away from our home.
I always ask Google for help, when I go to a place, I have never been before. And so, I did this time… until I saw a road sign to something, I knew was right next to my end-location and would allow me to see a beautiful part of Denmark that I had never been to before. I went off-track, had a great awe experience, a small adventure and arrived maximum 1 minute later at my end destination.
Grateful that I had listened to my intuition and my backbone knowledge of beautiful places in Denmark.
The experience reminded me of a newspaper story I read a couple of weeks ago – yes, a printed one – I am that old.
“Turn Right Here”
In this story, an 80-year-old was on his way to the summer house he had been going to since his early childhood – by train, by bicycle, and by car. Approximately every 2 to 3 weeks. In the car with him was his grand kids that had picked up from his apartment in Copenhagen. In the story, he describes how he suddenly from the back of the car shouted: “Turn right here”, as he knew a short cut. The grandkids without looking up from their phones refused stating “Google tells us to go straight ahead”. His decadelong experience was not listened to.
“Look up”, “Enjoy the Journey” and “Take a Different Path”
With stories like these I wonder, what we are missing every single day, as we are so busy following the maps and instructions that we forget to ‘look up’, ‘enjoy the journey’ and maybe take a different path that makes more sense, then the one we originally set out to follow.
Where we do not listen to the wisdom in the form of intuition, backbone knowledge, and decade long experience that is readily available, but rely too much on what we already know.
“When the Map is not Reflecting the Terrain. Follow the Terrain.”
In a volatile and uncertain world like the one we are living in right now, ‘maps’ and the ‘rules of the game’ are getting redrawn. Collaboration has shrunk. Fragmentation is all over. Burnout is widespread. Uncertainty is higher than ever.
I believe it will be crucial for all of us to nurture the ability to seek out and engage with hidden intangible wisdom, listen carefully, and then be ready to go off-track. To not follow the map. In our private lives and in the business world.
Do You Still Follow the Pre-Pandemic Maps?
One of my favorite principles say: “When the map is not reflecting the terrain. Follow the terrain.” Do you follow the terrain? – or do you still follow the pre-pandemic maps?
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