In the Age of the Adventurers, specialization, and expansion…

“Insofar as a civilization grows and continues to grow, it has to reckon less and less with challenges delivered by alien adversaries and demanding responses on an outer battlefield, and more and more with challenges that are presented by itself to itself in an inner arena. In other words, the criterion of growth is progress towards self-determination.” Arnold Toynbee

It is possible that the Prophet’s rule will only be a brief period in the history of the company. Furthermore, the Barbarian’s life span ought to be constrained. In an organization’s growth, the Barbarian Age will slow the leadership. During this time, the organization’s systems and structure begin to take shape, and the organization as a whole grows.

A fresh leadership style is needed at this moment. It has to be something that is shared, assigned, and done in concert with others. Even though leaders must remain creative and quick-witted, they must also learn about manufacturing, service, marketing, and sales in order to succeed. A corporation’s life cycle may only last a few years, whereas a civilization’s life cycle could extend for centuries.

This era of specialization is dominated by the Adventurers. It has two subparts that can be but are not necessarily one person. Those are the Builders and explorers.

The Builders will focus on increasing the company’s internal capacity, while the Explorers will continue to push the boundaries of the company’s or culture’s growth. When it comes to expanding the cultural reach and impact of society through the integration of new people and infrastructure, it is not uncommon to find the Builders and Explorers working side by side on construction projects around the globe. As a corporation’s builder, you are responsible for designing and constructing the means of production. They’re on the hunt for new customers and territory to get an advantage in the marketplace.

In the first two stages of development, growth is mainly dependent on the individual leader, the Prophet, and the Barbarian. It is at this point that centralized decision-making is no longer feasible due to the increasingly complex internal and external environments.

Initially, only one Christ, Mohammed, or Buddha could be on stage at a time. A greater degree of unity and variety must be acknowledged as society becomes more integrated and diverse in order to maintain the unification of peoples from all over the globe. If one personality insists on dominance, the culture is stifled by internal conflict, and less compelling people suddenly have to share the stage.

Administrative functions such as accounting, human resources, and information systems management support sales, engineering, and production at this stage. Each of these functions must be able to talk to the others. It’s important to take into account all of their interests. It’s inevitable that as society moves toward maturity and balance, some form of democracy or collaborative decision-making is developed. The failure to make this adjustment in decision-making style is a major contributor to this level of failure.

Story of Adventurers

Adventurers like Ferdinand Magellan epitomize the kind of leader-like character that is required at this level. If you ever questioned that man might act heroically, look no farther than the sixteenth-century explorers. Both their vision and courage were impressive, but they also had a strong belief in their ability to handle difficult human situations.

Today’s society requires a combination of personal daring and competence, as well as the ability to communicate and collaborate, as demonstrated by Magellan’s journey.

As a young man, Magellan had served in the Portuguese fleet. Magellan went out to find a strait that would allow ships heading to the Spice Islands to round Africa, believing that a strait existed that would allow westward passage. Magellan arrived in Seville on October 20, 1517, to offer his services to Charles V, Ferdinand and Isabella’s grandson and the newly crowned King of Castile, because Portugal’s monarch, Manuel, had refused to sponsor a search.

It is important to note that the stages of development known as Builder and Explorer are separate from one another. In order to gain the confidence and support of those around him, the leader must now gain their acceptance and cooperation. Even back then, there was a committee in place. Like today’s corporate capital allocation committees, the Casa de Contratacion supervised much of Spain’s colonial enterprises and was tasked with approving development plans. To no one’s surprise, when the Casa de Contratacion heard about Magellan’s scheme, they rejected it. As a result of Magellan’s efforts, the committee’s judgment was eventually overturned. He went to the committee’s most prominent member, Bishop Juan Foncesca of Burgos, for his blessing.

As a condition of his agreement, Foncesca promised that Magellan’s ships would be manned by his relatives and friends. There were three attempted mutinies throughout the journey, and historians believe that the bishop encouraged those who aspired to take leadership of the expedition.

An additional committee member, Juan de Aranda, asked for a 20% cut of the anticipated earnings in exchange for helping the committee reconsider its decision. Magellan’s and the other great Explorers’ manipulation, collaboration, and teamwork to achieve their goal could not be withstood by any Prophet or Barbarian.

It was a different story for Magellan. During his voyage, he found the strait that bears his name today. Without modern navigational technology, he circumnavigated the globe, unclear of where or when he would discover a passage to the Pacific, unknowing of the Pacific’s enormous size, which is double the Atlantic’s. Magellan’s success was not due to his bravery, but rather to his thorough journal-keeping, regular observations of celestial bodies, and meticulous mapping of every landfall and ocean feature that he encountered on his voyages. As an engineer or scientist, he also had the commanding skills of a general.

At the same time that Magellan was exploring the oceans, engineers were working on industrial techniques and efficiency. For now, the same division and set of competencies are required for the corporation’s growth.

The company’s wealth profile is nearing equilibrium at this point. Competencies in human resources have grown significantly in the last few years. In order to keep up with technological advancement, production and sales efficiency, and processing innovation, must be prioritized. It takes far more knowledge and experience than it did in the past to maintain Spiritual Capital.

With regionally dispersed manufacturing and sales units, it is challenging to retain a sense of purpose and shared values in a corporation that is diverse. While marching into battle together in the early days of the conflict, a common goal emerged. It’s now time to proceed with caution when promoting it. Brand equity, a measure of an organization’s external social capital, has grown significantly in recent years, as the market has come to appreciate the value of an organization’s innovation and manufacturing capabilities. There’s no doubt that money is a significant asset that may be used for growth and innovation.

If the Adventurers are successful, a period of financial equilibrium will be attained. It is difficult, if not impossible, for the system to remain in a state of natural balance.

It’s possible that you’re a builder if…

• You enjoy performing the “real work” of your business, such as making or delivering a product or service.

• You enjoy evaluating the results of your work.

• Taking action and observing the outcomes of your actions is something you take great pleasure in doing.

However, you are aware that you lack vision and spend little time dreaming about what the future holds.

When it comes to committees, you don’t want to waste your time.

If you’re a good communicator, you could be an Explorer.

Sometimes you feel like working for your clients, and other employees in your company regularly appear to be obstacles in the way of providing excellent customer service.

• You believe that your company’s primary objective should be growth.

As a result of your innate curiosity and competitive attitude, you’re always on the lookout for new business opportunities for your company.

Adventurers Age: Your organization is in this phase if…

• Your products or services have a distinct advantage over your competitors, and you’re expanding rapidly.

• Now that your business is profitable, you can hire more employees to assist you in establishing management systems and streamlining operations.

For example, you’re growing the number of employees you have on staff and making the vocations more specific in order to keep up with demand.