“The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.”
Warren G. Bennis
Key Points by Lolly Daskal
• Every single leader, movement, and organization that has ever wanted to create greatness has had to challenge the status quo.
• Leaders challenge the status quo to attract improvements.
• Organizations challenge the status quo to assemble advancements
• Challenging the status quo is inspiring ordinary people to become extraordinary leaders.
• People who challenge the status quo to dig deeper than just surface issues.
• Challenging the status quo takes an open mind that questions everything.
• Every challenge involves confronting the status quo. This precept means we have to test the unproven, dive deep in the unspoken, and challenge the unchallenged.
• Nothing great is ever achieved by doing things the way they have always been done.
• To challenge the status quo we must take one fearless choice at a time, one brave decision at a time, one courageous action at a time. These choices, decisions, and actions transform challenges into exploration, risk into reward, and fear into determination.
Start by asking yourself:
What needs to be challenged?
What action will you take to challenge the status quo?
What needs to be improved?
What is the greatest risk?
What can I expect?
What can I learn?
After challenging the status quo ask yourself:
What have I learned?
What did I not expect?
What went right?
What went wrong?
What would I do differently?
What could I have done better?
Additional Thoughts
When we challenge the status quo, we test our skills and we challenge ourselves.
We are not here to stay content. We are here to do better. The gift of life is to make a difference, and the call of leadership is to say this is not good enough.
We have the choice to make things better.
We have an obligation to challenge the status quo.
When we meet that obligation, we are inspiring others to do better and think bigger.
Suggested Reading
Think Wrong: How to Conquer the Status Quo and Do Work That Matters by John Bielenberg
Do Disrupt: Change the Status Quo. Or become it by Mark Shayler
Points of Reflection
“Challenging the status quo takes commitment, courage, imagination, and, above all, dedication to learning.”
Marshall Ganz
“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
Charles H. Duell, U.S. Patent Commissioner from 1898 to 1901