When you started your agency, it was probably pretty exciting and somehow any worries you had were squelched before they could get in the way. But as our agencies get a little more established and we get a little more comfortable, taking a risk seems scarier, doesn’t it?

My guest thinks that’s a problem and he recommends that we re-acquainted with being uncomfortable.

In some ways, I’d like to think my big risk-taking days are behind me. But when I go to manage my business, and in nearly every conversation I have with my AMI colleagues, I know being risk-averse is not a strategy any of us can afford. Staying relevant and successful—according to my guest—requires a level of comfort with being uncomfortable.

It is a bit of bromide that the rapid pace of change is the one constant we can count on these days. How do we manage that change and thrive in the midst of it? That’s what we’re getting at in this episode.

On episode #167, my guest Scott Amyx proves that he knows this topic. From a childhood of poverty in South Korea to a career at the tip of the spear in terms of understanding and embracing innovation, Scott has lived and thrived in this era of discomfort. The upshot of his research is clear: being prepared for change and meeting disruption with a strategy of embracing it and pivoting as needed is a critical skill to survival as a business owner today.

Scott Amyx is the Chair & Managing Partner at Amyx Ventures and Singularity University/Smart City Accelerator Mentor and Startup Board Member. He is a TEDx speaker on disruption and success. Scott is a thought leader, speaker, author, and winner of the Cloud & DevOps World Award for Most Innovative Vendor.

Scott’s book, Strive, is all about how doing the most uncomfortable things leads to success.

What You Will Learn About in This Episode:

• How to get comfortable with being uncomfortable
• What you need to know about decentralized, autonomous organizations
• The market imperative of lifelong learning
• Why selling expertise and strategy is where differentiation happens
• How individual discomfort gets collectivized and creates tipping points for innovation
• Why as individuals and organizations, we need to be disrupted in order to be our optimal selves
• How process automation is disrupting the work of agencies as much as any other business sector
• Why the way we tell stories in our business needs to evolve with the tech and platforms people use to engage with stories
• Why the move toward a more agile, freelance workforce in your agency is likely not a short-term trend          

Ways to contact Scott Amyx:

• Order Strive: https://amzn.to/2yqtMGh
• TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/FXoqlqpWpao
• Website: https://scottamyx.com/