Modern Achievement

Modern Achievement by Asheesh Advani and Marshall Goldsmith provides a fresh take on the concept of success for today’s emerging leaders. The book draws inspiration from classic success literature, but reimagines it for a modern, fast-paced, and ever-changing world.

The authors combine personal stories, insights from established leaders, and experiences from young achievers to emphasise that success today is not just about achieving goals, but also about finding happiness and meaning throughout the process. The book encourages resilience in facing challenges, such as career transitions, and emphasises the importance of having a "growth mindset" to navigate an uncertain future.

At the heart of the book is the "Fixed-Flexible-Freestyle" framework:

1. Fixed Principles

These are the core values and foundational principles that remain constant over time, regardless of external changes. For organisations, this could be the company’s mission, ethical guidelines, or long-term vision. These principles offer stability, helping organisations maintain focus and integrity even in volatile markets.

For instance, organisations that uphold a fixed principle of “customer-first” will continuously prioritise customer satisfaction, ensuring loyalty and long-term success, even as trends and technologies evolve.

2. Flexible Strategies

Flexibility in strategies allows organisations to adapt their approach to align with changing markets, technological advances, and emerging trends. This means while the core values remain fixed, the methods to achieve success can be dynamic and adaptable.

For businesses, this could manifest in adopting new technologies or pivoting to new markets in response to economic shifts. Companies that embrace flexible strategies are better equipped to deal with disruptions and are more resilient when faced with competition or external challenges.

3. Freestyle Innovation

Freestyle represents the freedom to innovate and experiment with new ideas. Organisations that encourage this within teams promote creativity and allow employees to think outside the box. Freestyle enables companies to test novel solutions, take calculated risks, and foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement.

How the Fixed, Flexible and Freestyle Framework Helps You Grow as a Leader

• Balance of Stability and Adaptability: The "Fixed" component provides stability, ensuring the organization doesn’t lose sight of its core identity, while the "Flexible" and "Freestyle" components enable it to adapt and innovate in response to change.

  
  

• Resilience in Uncertainty: The framework supports resilience by empowering organizations to hold onto their core values (Fixed), adapt their strategies (Flexible), and innovate continuously (Freestyle). This balance makes organizations more resilient to market fluctuations, disruptive technologies, and economic downturns.

  
  

• Promotes Innovation and Employee Engagement: The freestyle component encourages a culture of experimentation and creative problem-solving, fostering employee engagement and driving innovation, which is crucial for growth in competitive industries.

Overall, the Fixed-Flexible-Freestyle framework helps you grow grow by ensuring you maintain your core identity while staying adaptive and innovative, crucial for thriving in a modern business environment​. The book and the framework offers actionable advice for personal development while blending timeless wisdom with modern-day adaptability, aiming to empower readers to thrive both personally and professionally​.

The Wheel Of Change

In the book, Marshall Goldsmith adds to the fixed, flexible and freestyle framework by sharing his view on how to become the person you want to be. He makes the point there will be some things you like about yourself and some things you would prefer to change. He proposes a framework called "the wheel of change". It has two axes. There are "positives" that help you develop and "negatives" that hold you back. This leads to four options:

Creating: this represents the positive things we want to create in our future.

Preserving: these are the positives about you that you wouldn't want to lose.

Eliminating: this represents the things about you that you would be happy to get rid of.

Accepting: these are negative elements but you can't get rid of them and have to accept them as part of your future.

These four challenges can help you make significant steps to becoming the person you really want to be.