How to Assess Whether You, Your Team, or Your Organization are Fit to Adapt, Innovate, and Thrive in Disruption – In Just 7 Minutes with Francis Cholle

Resources/Links:

• Discover your Squircle score. Click here: https://squircleacademy.com/test/

Summary

How do you increase agility, creativity, and lower burnout?

Are you looking for a new perspective to engage and enable people to perform?

Do you want to engage people to perform without teaching them but taking them through experience?

Wall Street Journal / USA Today international best-selling author Francis Cholle uses deep human learning and cognitive science to help leaders and Fortune 500 solve complex problems and thrive in disruption.

In this episode, Francis shares how he uses deep human learning and cognitive science to help leaders and Fortune 500 solve complex problems and thrive in disruption through the Squircle approach.

Check out these episode highlights:

• 01:39 – Francis’s ideal client – “So our ideal clients are HR executives, the C-suites of organizations, CMOs, CFOs, where all the people work to impact the culture of the organization to get better results. And we also market to coaches and consultants.”
• 02:13 – Problem that Francis helps to solve – “So everybody’s looking for agility and creativity today in this fast, disruptive world that you were mentioning before. You know, and those are kind of empty words. We make them really real. And we actually show the path visually with a simple model that everybody can understand how to access that natural innate potential that’s so rarely tapped into in business.”
• 03:10 – Symptoms to the clients’ problems before they find Francis’s solution – “So the symptoms are usually how to engage people into change dynamics. You know, nobody likes to change habits, right? People I’ve worked with, talked to today, their main problems are engagement, people are tired, they reach a place of burnout when they don’t notice burnout anymore. They work nine to nine. And sometimes they don’t stop over the weekend.”
• 05:06 – Common mistakes people make in trying to solve the problem: “It’s the way we look at problems, the way we ask questions.”
• 06:19 – Francis’ Valuable Free Action (VFA): – “In the Squircle book and the website, you’ll find an image where you have the circle or adaptability, creativity, agility, natural, you know, it’s represented by the circle and then the frame, the square being structured, logic, dependability. So, we live in a culture where the circle is within the square and that square, the circle cannot fly, you know, like a bird, cannot fly, so the free thing is, liberate the natural part of ourselves. Let the circle encircle the square.”
• 07:00 – Francis’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): – Check out Francis’ website https://squircleacademy.com/test/
• 07:53 – Q: Why is it credible? A: Because it’s science-based, everything we do at the human company is researched. It all was generated through work that we did 15 years ago for L’Oreal. We did a deep dive into the culture. We mobilized the latest in scientific research, and we still are, you know, validating everything we do through research. And it’s been pressure-tested by 250,000 executives around the world in more than 24 hours.

Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode:

“Liberate the natural part of ourselves. Let the circle actually encircle the square.” -Francis Cholle Share on X

Transcript
(Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

Tom Poland 00:10
Greetings everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out here from Little Castaways Beach in Queensland, Australia joined today by Francis P. Cholle. Francis, good day, very warm welcome. Where are you hanging out?

Francis Cholle 00:24
Hello. Thank you, Tom. I am in the Hollywood Hills, actually in Hollywood, in Los Angeles.

Tom Poland 00:30
Beautiful Hollywood Hills. Love that part of the world. And so originally, you migrated presumably from where?

Francis Cholle 00:36
Yep. From Paris, France. I was born there. I grew up there, raised, and educated in France. And then I moved to the states almost 25 years ago.

Tom Poland 00:45
Wow. That’s fairly a while as long as I’ve been in Australia from New Zealand. So, folks, if you don’t know Francis, he’s a Wall Street Journal and the USA today, international bestselling author. So, it’s a real privilege to have you here today, Francis. He uses deep human learning and cognitive science to help leaders and fortune 500 companies solve complex problems and thrive in disruption. That’s clever. Disruption happens, which I’m sure is accidental. So, our title today folks is “How to Assess Whether You, Your Team, or Your Organization are Fit to Adapt, Innovate, and Thrive in Disruption.” And Francis is going to share how to do that in just seven minutes. Big ask, Francis, but I’m sure you’re up to it. Our first question starts now, question number one, who is your ideal client?

Francis Cholle 01:39
So, our ideal clients are HR executives, the C-suites of organizations, CMOs, CFOs, where all the people work to impact the culture of the organization to get better results. And we also market to coaches, consultants, and HR executives to certify in our assessment that has been proven with 250,000 people around the world in about 20 Fortune five hundred.

Tom Poland 02:03
Wow! So, this is very, very impressive stuff. So, tell us more about this question in six and a half minutes to tell us more about the problem you solve for these folks.

Francis Cholle 02:13
So, everybody’s looking for agility and creativity today in this fast, disruptive world that you mentioned before. You know, and those are kind of empty words. We make them really real. And we actually show the path visually with a simple model that everybody can understand how to access that natural, innate potential that’s so rarely tapped into in business.

Tom Poland 02:36
I mean, you said that very quickly, but it sounds quite deep, actually, if you are unpacking that, that could take a week, so let’s carry on because we don’t; unfortunately, we don’t have a week. We have six minutes left. What are some of the typical symptoms of one of these HR directors, this coach, this consultant? Maybe I know there are two different markets there? Let’s go with the HR director. An organization’s going to have some symptoms that they need what you’ve got, what does that look like?

Francis Cholle 03:00
Sure. So, one of the things I’d like to share with you is that it took me three books actually, to explain what I’m doing to people over 15 years. So, the symptoms are usually how to engage people into change dynamics? You know, nobody likes to change habits, right? We are using magazines; you know how to lose weight for the summer cause it’s hard. So, we do this well, you know, we break down on the, where individual inertia and organizational inertia live, and we don’t teach anything. We take people through the experience of it. So, inertia, individual, and collective performance often come today with burnout. So, we find a new path to performance. It’s not like performance is a must. You know, we live in a boxing ring, we’re in business, but how do you engage performance from which place? And sometimes, why do you perform? That’s another bigger question. So, Squircle delivers on those two things, how and why, and then this new perspective enables people to perform more with less effort.

Tom Poland 04:07
So, the HR director who was thinking of reaching out to you, what would be going on in their organization or their mind, what would be their concerns? What would they be experienced with? They would think I need to look more deeply at Squircle Academy.

Francis Cholle 04:19
So, people I work with, I talk to today, their main problems are engagement. You know, people are tired when I reach a place of burnout. When they don’t notice burnout anymore, they work nine to nine. Three-time zones. Yeah. And sometimes, it doesn’t stop over the weekend. So, you know, it’s maxed out because of the circumstances and because everybody moves digital and digital is faster, you know, my words also.

Tom Poland 04:46
As you said, often, remote time zones… So, three and a half minutes left. I mean, with the smart people and your HR directors, particularly caring people, so, they’re going to try things to increase agility, increased creativity, lower burnout, increase productivity. They might make some mistakes before they find Squircle. So, what are some of those common mistakes?

Francis Cholle 05:06
It’s the way we look at problems, the way we ask questions. I work for a global company and a makeup has been challenged by COVID. You know, the category worldwide went down by 30%. So how do you reinvent yourself in a highly competitive, low barrier entry market? The internal consultants and HR people have said, well, we need to give them more freedom within the framework, within the corporate framework. And I’m saying, no, you need to give them freedom with the support of a framework. Not within the framework, because that’s where you phrase the approach in a way that will limit people’s natural innate ability to be creative in the job. You know, if you put me in a framework, you put me in a box, and I’m sorry, you know, we’re more than a box. We’re more than a mental box. So just that adjustment of how you look at the problems and of course, how you work on the problem.

Tom Poland 06:01
And that’s just a remarkable distinction there within a framework versus being supported by the framework. That in itself would unpack all sorts of differences. Thank you for that. Two minutes left, one valuable free action, a top tip that’s going to help a little bit, one, solves the whole problem, but it might take the HR director a step in the right direction.

Francis Cholle 06:19
Sure. In the Squircle book and in the website, you’ll find an image where you have the circle, our adaptability, creativity, agility, natural, you know, it’s represented by the circle and then the frame, the square meaning structure, logic, dependability. So, we live in a culture where the circle is within the square, and in that square the circle cannot fly, you know, like a bird cannot fly. So, the free thing is, liberate the natural part of ourselves. Let the circle actually encircle the square, you know. Just that simple image, download the image, print it next to your computer so that you can engage your complex problems through the circle and not the square.

Tom Poland 06:55
Loving this; going to do that. So, folks, we’ll give you a link in a moment. Question six and 90 seconds left, one valuable free resource we could direct people. Who’s going to help them even more. I’m going to jump in here because I know what it is, just to save time. It’s Squircle Academy, so squircleacademy.com/test. What are they going to find there, Francis?

Francis Cholle 07:18
An assessment that will be customized to their style of thinking and working. And then we’ll give them the most information about six other types of among themselves, you know, at work or on limit work so they can build better teams. They can have better languages to work with different styles, you know, and all of these lives in that report. So, they get a big report and something really valuable with steps, actionable steps.

Tom Poland 07:39
Fantastic. All right. I’m so excited about this. I can feel my neck tingling. That’s how much potential I think there is here. Thirty seconds left to question number seven. Last one. What’s the one question I should’ve asked you but didn’t?

Francis Cholle 07:53
Why is it credible? Because it’s science-based, everything we do at the human company is researched. It all was generated through work that we did 15 years ago for L’Oreal. We did a deep dive into the culture. We mobilized the latest in scientific research, and we still are validating everything we do through research. And it’s been pressure tested by 250,000 executives around the world in more than 20 Fortune 500 Companies.

Tom Poland 08:17
Fantastic. Francis, thank you so much for your time.

Francis Cholle 08:20
You’re so welcome.

Tom Poland 08:22
Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com.