If architect, systems theorist and inventor R. Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller were alive today advising entrepreneurs maybe he’d hammer this home ...
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
Fuller’s theory works in certain situations with skillful application but as an advisor, my focus is business. I’ll channel a little Bucky and this uncommon idea to help supercharge your business or maybe inspire you to start one.
You’re welcome. This one’s on the house.
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality.”
Let’s test Fuller’s theory. Make a fist. Now have your buddy do the same thing. With equal force push your fist against his. Nothing much happens. Equal force can nullify progress. What’s next? Opposing sides fight harder. Compound that vicious cycle with this acoustic phenomenon Simone Wright, author of First Intelligence highlights. It’s okay to not like something. But consistently complaining about it is like standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon yelling, “I don’t like this!” Then what? The echo bounces back. You get more, “I don’t like this!” Fighting against and consistently screaming at something you don’t like may not be the best use of energy when you want to change an existing reality, business or otherwise.
"To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
The Sharks in the Tank call it, “Building a better mousetrap,” but entrepreneurs and inventors have been doing that since the Stone Age. Fuller takes it a step further introducing an alchemical principle. Transform the, fighting against” energy. This shift provides access to the creative energy necessary to build a new model, whatever it is. Another interpretation is from David Hawkins, M.D. Ph.D. in Power vs. Force. “Successful solutions are based upon the powerful principle that the resolution occurs by fostering the positive, not by attacking the negative.” Fuller and Hawkins fundamentally say the same thing, differently. Yet both endorse operating from a higher level of emotional and intellectual energy. It’s a choice. Fight against and attack the negative. Or. Supercharge an idea. In a business context, use the majority of energetic resources, towards building a better or entirely new mouse trap. This change in thinking invites creative energy, it’s where genius lives, and it’s available to you. It delivers ideas to, perhaps, start a business offering customers options other companies don’t. Maybe you create a “first of its kind” product, with fully developed features setting an industry standard. Whatever the case, when your new product, business or model has a purpose, there’s always a plan. It’s time.
“I’m guessing Bucky would recap by saying, there are exceptions to everything. And building a new model or mouse trap is an eternal concept.
So, it’s worth considering if you’re at all serious about changing the existing reality business or otherwise.
Paula M. Parker copyright 2022 Originally published in the Metrowest Daily News a USA Today network.
