Stretch: How to Future-Proof Yourself for Tomorrow’s Workplace
Karie Willyerd and Barbara Mistick
John Wiley & Sons (2016)

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin

There seems to be some disagreement as to what exactly Darwin said about being responsive to change but there’s no doubt about this observation by Albert Einstein: “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” In Stretch, Karie Willyerd and Barbara Mistick pose a question and then respond to it: “How do we stay relevant in our work lives? Our answer: stretch. Stretch how we learn, stretch to stay open in our thinking, stretch to build diverse networks and experiences, and stretch our motivation. This is precisely what Alvin Toffler had in mind when asserting, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Willyerd and Mistick assert, “Stretching is the future imperative for us all.”

My own opinion is that we must do that now. And we must do it better, and do it more effectively, as we welcome each new day and the opportunities for personal growth and professional development that accompany each new day.

The subtitle of Willyerd and Mistick’s book refers to “future-proofing” ourselves for “tomorrow’s workplace.” I think that is naive. Why do I think that? Because I cannot recall a prior time when changes occurred faster and with greater impact than they do now…and I expect the acceleration as well as the frequency to increase.

That said, I think this can be an immensely valuable book for almost anyone who has become — or is in danger of becoming — hostage to what James O’Toole so aptly characterizes as “the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom.” Willyerd and Mistick recommend a combination of “Stretch Strategies,” many of which I have struggled to follow (with mixed results) for several decades.

One additional thought about strategy, provided by Michael Porter: “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”

Reading and then re-reading Stretch has energized my motivation to re-evaluate various assumptions and premises because I know (or at least suspect) that one or more have reduced the effectiveness of the seven strategies. They are best revealed within the narrative, in context, but I will acknowledge this: Too often, I become wholly preoccupied with either The Big Picture or The Small Picture when in fact I need to stretch my mind to accommodate both because every major decision — answering a question or solving a problem — invariably requires consideration of both an overview and relevant details.

These are among the several dozen passages of greatest interest and value to me, also listed to suggest the scope of Willyerd and Mistick’s coverage:

o What Does Excellence Look Like? (Pages 37-40)
o Strategies for Learning on the Fly (40-49)
o Learning Traps to Avoid (50-53)
o Stretch Strategies to Be Open (65-80)
o The Two Networks Everyone Has (97-100)
o Strategies to Build a Diverse Network (105-115)
o The Experience Catch 22 (125-126)
o Strategies for Being Greedy About Experiences (128-142)
o The Recipe for Springing Back (164-174)
o Maintain the Faith (175-176)
o Ten Predictions for the Future of Work (187-196)
o The Top Ten Capabilities for Tomorrow (196-203)
o The Home Stretch (204-208)

I especially admire how carefully Willyerd and Mistick create a framework within which their reader can then complete a process of personal growth in an orderly manner. For example, they include a total of 22 “Stretch Breaks” in Chapters 2-7 that enabled me, for example, to re-evaluate the aforementioned assumptions and premises, most of which — I realized — had become severe limitations, not only on what I thought but also how I thought. Think of the 22 “Stretch Breaks” as a reality check.

Karie Willyerd and Barbara Mistick are to be commended on the abundance of valuable information, insights, and counsel that they provide in this book, accompanied by several reader-friendly devices that will facilitate, indeed accelerate effective application of the material that her readers deem most relevant to their needs, interests, values, concerns, and objectives. That said, I presume to suggest that those who read this book do so with a mind and a heart that are stretched beyond what may now be (or seem) comfortable and customary.

One other key point: Adaptability should be proactive rather than reactive. That is, just as Sun Tzu once suggested that every battle is won or lost before it is fought, I suggest that thorough preparation for the most likely contingencies improves the odds significantly that the response will be effective — and in a timely manner — to the given challenge. Masters of chess think several moves ahead and so must C-level executives. The more they stretch the nature and extent of their capabilities, the more likely they will prevail in a global marketplace that seems to become more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous each day.