Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention for Individuals, Organisations and Life, reviewed

We look at the new book “Undisruptable” by Aidan McCullen who has walked the walk in terms of reinventing himself and assessing what the best path is for himself and businesses going forwards. It is published by Wiley and also available here.

Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention for Individuals, Organisations and Life, reviewed

There are a lot of good elements to this book. By having had a career as a professional sportsperson in many ways McCullen was already keenly aware of the challenges of accepting that his current career had a very definite shelf life too. For McCullen this happened even sooner than he might of wished it to as well, but either way very few people continue playing professional rugby beyond their mid thirties, at best. This book visits some familiar examples of companies that failed to see the future rapidly devouring their businesses, such as Nokia and Blackberry among others. McCullen manages to describe these experiences in a fresh and interesting way.

This is a relatively short book, coming in at around 170 pages, but we found it interesting and enjoyable to read. McCullen interweaves his own analysis and experiences, and his, in his words, ‘long suffering’ children who receive the benefits of many teachable moments. This is done in a light and engaging way, which we found works, and does help convey meaning and compassion, and made us vow to try and be as patient with our own little darlings.

McCullen has run a long and interesting podcast, The Innovation Show, of which we have listened to many informative and useful episodes with quality guests. It would be fair to surmise that he has learned a lot from these interviews too, and these insights infuse into the book too, as he has explored thought leaders across a wide range of disciplines and cutting edge technologies. This all helps in terms of the distilled wisdom to be found in this book. There is a lot to like in this book.

The only area where we scratched our heads was in the title ‘Undisruptable’. Everything he describes in the book would suggest that nothing is likely to ‘undisruptable’, so in many ways it is perhaps more the subtitle that we need to focus on. Perhaps the idea is that the goal is to become undisruptable, thought the  thrust of the book is very much about how to roll with incoming VUCA and disruption

Happy publication day to @AidanMcCullen on his new book, Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention for Individuals, Organisations and Life. A new book on how to successfully tackle change and disruption with a foreword by @deewhock https://t.co/JkUpRvqlCr pic.twitter.com/D5FlavdY7A

— Wiley Business (@WileyBusiness) April 8, 2021

More about the book ->

In our world of incessant change, we are all threatened by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—at the individual and organizational levels. Undisruptable will give you a new lens through which to consider change as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. You’ll be inspired to consider the big questions of today: What does the future hold? What does the exponential growth of technology mean for the world of work? What does a changing job market mean for future generations? What do waves of disruption mean for business leaders? Society is evolving at breakneck speed. What does this mean for all of us? Read Undisruptable to bridge the chaos and build the resilience you need to move forward.

While we cannot see into the future, there are repeatable patterns that we can understand. Undisruptable demystifies the principles of change through a blend of analogies, innovation frameworks and exemplars of change such as Fujifilm and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The first step to becoming undisputable is to realize that evolution is a natural part of life, and nature provides many examples. Undisruptable will help you to:

• Understand the principles of change
• Overcome the barriers to change
• See change as an opportunity and not an obstacle
• Utilize simple frameworks and examples to guide you on your transformation

By the end of this book, you will have the essential tools and techniques to foster a reinvention mindset that will help you and your organization to become Undisruptable.

This book is part of a 3-part series. Part 2 looks at the biases and mental obstacles that prevent change. Part 3 examines the best ways to communicate change within an organization.

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