Construction on our route to work, a spilled coffee cup, hour changes at the local restaurant these are all things that can throw off our daily routines.
Routine:
noun
- a sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed program.”I settled down into a routine of work and sleep”
Many of us have settled into routines it is simply a way of life. Routines can be good they can help us get things done in a cumulative way but what happens when our routines are disrupted?
Most of react poorly with disruptions to our routines and that might not be so great. Sometimes the best thing for us is a disruption from our routine. Robert Nardelli was next in line to be the CEO of all of GE when he was passed over. His routine was just beginning to be changed. Nardelli, who was then in charge of GE Power Systems, got a call from Ken Langone, a GE board member who is also an influential director at Home Depot. “You probably could not feel worse right now,” the raspy-voiced Langone boomed, “but you’ve just been hit in the ass with a golden horseshoe. And I’ve got the horseshoe.” Within a week, Home Depot’s board pushed out co-founder Arthur Blank and installed Nardelli as CEO. Robert has gone on to be CEO of Coca cola, and Chrysler.
Nardelli learned to deal with routine disruption and allow the disruptions to unlock creativity and discovery. Whatever is disruptive now I know you can handle it and I think with the right attitude it could be a golden horseshoe.
You have to create your own luck. You have to be aware of the opportunities around you and take advantage of them.
Bruce Lee
The Corrigan Encore 