This week I’m thinking about the incredible power of  a distinction almost nobody understands. It’s about the crucial difference between creating a future versus living in a default future.

Sure, companies make plans and strategies, they brainstorm (I never understood why I would want a storm in my brain), analyze and other things, but they almost never…. create…. something…. really….

Bold.
Exciting.
Inspiring.
WOW.

They work from a context called “what we already know” without realizing that this is limiting them.
They go (or rather settle) for change that delivers 3% growth per year where 20% is possible.

This week I spoke with a respected leader and he argued that emerging markets have different “rules” for doing business. I replied that, even though there are certain things that work better then others, it’s not the rules OF the market,, it’s the mindset of the person IN the market.

For example: I know people in Dubai that have had 0% growth over the last 2 years. I also know people in the U.S. that have tripled their revenues.

Is it the market or the mindset that is emerging?

To illustrates this: there’s an old story of 2 shoe salesmen who are sent to the Sahara to do some new business research. After 1 week the first shoe salesman calls the home office and says: “To bad, nobody is wearing shoes here. Not a lot of possibilities,”. The second shoe salesman calls the home office and says “Incredible possibilities! Nobody is wearing shoes yet!”

Emerging Mindsets eat Emerging Markets for lunch.
(Peter Drucker said something like that, I just tweaked it a little to new insights)

Rich