From The Doer Report: DO School blog, February 2018.
This is the age of the Doer.
At no other time in our history have technology, tools, and powerful social and information networks been as affordable, or as accessible as they are now.
The ability to identify opportunity and quickly act upon it – to shape the world that we want to live in – and to enlist the imaginative and practical resources of others to help us do it, is available to everybody.
In other words, Doing is more democratised than ever before.
And it has never been more needed – at no other time in our history has the pace of change been as fast, or as relentless. Nor have the challenges been as complex and unpredictable.
Today, those who act with the least delay to confront the myriad, extraordinary scenarios and problems that influence, evolve, or, worse, threaten our future are Doers. They are an essential, evolutionary force.
Doers are not afraid of change. They embrace it. Nor are they deterred by the scale of the challenges they take on, which are often among the most insistent and complicated of our time.
Doers understand that their greatest strength is passion aligned with a purpose. They are uncommonly effective at turning ideas into action.
Doing is never inadvertent. It is conscious, directed and purposeful. The value of it is measured by the benefit derived by others.
Doing needs critical mass. It thrives in community. Doers achieve the greatest impact when they transcend culture, race and social status to cohere as a global community, focus on important problems, and work together in new ways to solve them.
Successful Doers learn and collaborate with others who are working towards the same goals but whose perspectives and approaches are often different. Diversity of thought – and action – is essential.
In an unstable, fast-moving world, there is always value in combined imagination and effort. There is rarely just one ‘right answer’, or just one way of doing something. Moreover, the act of Doing together, done right, is transformative, especially within institutional and corporate structures. It reminds us, again and again, what we are all capable of. Together.
Doing needs coherent leadership to nurture and equip new generations of Doers, and to convey the importance of Doing as a cornerstone of a positive, sustainable outlook for all our futures. This is the role of the DO School.
Remember, we all share fear, uncertainty, and doubt, but it’s those who overcome these to get things Done that drive us forward.