REINVENT YOURSELF with Dorie Clark

Audio production by James Ede, Be Heard

The word “reinvention” feels powerful, even overwhelming to me. It stirs up a whole load of emotions. First, there’s the excitement and thrill of bringing something new to life. Then, there’s the fear of the unknown, followed by a sense of loss. Because reinvention implies change. And we all know that change always robs us of our precious sense of familiarity and comfort.

But my guest today, Dorie Clark, a professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the author of Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You and Stand Out, reminds me that there are two types of Reinvention: the capital “R” Reinvention and the lowercase “r” reinvention. And they are quite different in nature.

The scary kind comes with the capital “R”: think changing industries, quitting your job to go back to school, folding your business, and starting afresh It conjures images of giant leaps and risky pivots, and makes most of us want to bury ourselves under the duvet and not come out for a few months.

But Dorie Clark says that it’s possible to make things far easier. We just need to embrace the lowercase “r” reinvention: small, subtle changes that, over time, compound and often produce astonishing results.

And this is exactly what we talk about in this episode of the CultureLab podcast.

Episode Highlights

Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

• Lower case “r” reinvention and the capital “R” reinvention.
• The importance of turning reinvention into a habit.
• How to expand our network.
• How to come up with a breakthrough idea.
• What to do when you find yourself in an environment where your ideas are not being recognized or appreciated.

Listen to the interview in the player below or on iTunes. If you like what you hear, please leave a review, and it may be featured on a future episode.

Audio production by James Ede, Be Heard

More about Dorie Clark

A frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, she consults and speaks for clients including Google, Microsoft, and the World Bank. She is also a producer of a multiple Grammy-award-winning jazz album. You can download her free Entrepreneurial You self-assessment workbook and learn more at dorieclark.com/entrepreneur.

Books mentioned in this episode

The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier

Additional resources 

The Culture Strategy Bootcamp

Scaleup’s Guide to Creating a Culture Playbook

Personal Core Values Discovery Guide