Technical knowledge and skills are important, but given the speed, scale, and complexity of change, a mindset shift must come first. The executives all touted the importance of curiosity, creativity, initiative, and a learning mindset.
Adams says his senior leadership is focusing on developing and strengthening these and other essential human factors through training on areas like “how leadership properly engage in crucial conversations to ensure progress, build followership, and find common areas of agreement that can lead to moving the ball forward.” He adds that professional and personal resilience is something everyone needs to keep building to maintain balance and calm in the storm.
As these visionary leaders are making clear, this is not business as usual — it’s a reinvention of the infrastructure that powers our economy, our security, and our future. The scale and significance echo the boldest infrastructure eras in American history. Just as the highway system enabled the mass movement of people and goods, today’s infrastructure build-out is powering the mass acceleration of intelligence, automation, and innovation at scale. But this time, the pace is blistering.
As Redmond points out, “If people are talking about more than a day’s turnaround and delivery of something, it’s too late. The way we think, the way we implement, the way we deliver is different now. Those organizations that embrace it will do well. The organizations that try to fight it and stay in the same old mold will be in trouble.”