"The only way to deep happiness is to do something you love to the best of your ability."
Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize winning Physicist
You need two things to build a working universe (and an organisation)
Imagine you would like to have some fun and build a working universe. You only need two things. It's really quite simple.
A constant supply of energy. A few billion nuclear stars is always a great starting point.
And a great piece of software that keeps everything moving and emerging, from molecules and massive galaxies to life and intelligence.
Let's call this The Great Universal Evolutionary Algorithm.
Now let's assume you wish to build a great organisation. The principles are identical to building a universe.
You need the same two basic ingredients. A continuous supply of energy and access to the Great Universal Evolutionary Algorithm.
In an organisation the primary source of all energy is Leadership. There is no other source.
Defining energy however is complex. There is no single definition and no single unit of measurement. Scientists have coped with this by giving different forms of energy different units of measurement. (Thus making something already complex into something unimaginably complex.)
A simple example. An apple falls from a tree. If you measure how long it takes to fall to the ground you can calculate the force of gravity.
Leadership energy is no different. It is the 'capacity to do work'. The higher the energy, the greater the 'capacity to do work.'
Thus we can measure leadership energy in the same way as measuring gravity with a falling apple. We can accurately measure a range of outputs and results in the organisation itself. This may include measures of culture, creativity, employee intelligence and competitiveness on the one hand with customer experience and profitability on the other.
In effect, the composite of all organisational processes and outputs represents the organisational energy. Which is the direct product of leadership energy.
The importance of Potential Energy and Kinetic Energy
Leadership energy has two critical components. Potential and kinetic energy.
Potential energy is measured by the leader's unique passions, loves, desires and skills all combined in what we call proclivities.
Kinetic energy is the 'energy in action'. A sportsman or musician may have the potential to compete at the highest level but it is the conversion of this potential into kinetic energy which can be observed and measured.
Great leaders therefore work hard in both areas. They continuously develop their potential energy in their personal lives and work hard to improve their kinetic energy in the real world.
Both of these energy areas can be measured and developed on a continuous basis.
The First Element and the Genius of the GCIndex - Measuring Potential Energy
There are many instruments on the market that purport to measure personality and behaviour. But as Linda Feldman Barrett shrewdly states in her seminal book Seven and a Half Lessons of the Brain, most of these tests ask you what you believe about yourself.
"The results summarise these beliefs and give them back to you, and wow, they fit so well!"
The Game Changing Index however is different. It is based on original and detailed research into what makes the special high energy mavericks so successful. It turns out obsession and imagination are the primary drivers of the Game Changer.
And why does this matter? For two key reasons. They have the two elements needed to build a new organisation.
High energy driven by obsession, and a naturally driven evolutionary spirit driven by imagination.
In addition to providing a picture of the individual's proclivities, or areas where the individual has a preference for taking action, the profile indicates the all important energy level that the individual is willing to commit to each proclivity.
The true genius of the GCIndex therefore is that it makes the leader's natural preferred areas for action together with associated energy levels, truly visible.
In effect the GCIndex, apart from being globally unique and light years ahead of the pack from a complex system's perspective, is the perfect measure of a leader's potential energy.
The Second Element. Generating Energy with the Genius of the Universal Evolutionary Algorithm
The second key element of building either a universe or an organisation is recognising, understanding and using the power of the Evolutionary Algorithm.
Wherever you get repetition, variation and selection you MUST get evolution.
This is the algorithm that has kept the universe moving for 13,8 billion years and the emergence of homo sapiens for at least the past two hundred thousand years.
It drives both our biological and cultural evolution. And there is precisely nothing we can do to stop it.
However, given that our species is conscious and capable of cognitive thinking and choices, we are able to use the tremendous power of the Evolutionary Algorithm, to our best advantage.
William James and Habits
William James recognised this over a century ago when he said that at least 99.99% of our thinking and actions are driven by naturally evolved habits.
Further that new habits change our biology through creating new neuronal pathways. (All of this has now been confirmed through research. In fact the latest work shows that neuronal pathways and networks can start to change within hours of implementing new and repeated actions.)
This suggests that it is now time to leave behind the 'nonsense language' of leadership and business - example: 'change management'. All management is about change. 'Change management' is just a pompous and meaningless absurdity.
It is time to create the new language of leadership based on a thorough understanding of the science behind leadership energy and the universal power of the Evolutionary Algorithm.