“Hey driver, I’m so tired of the ways of this old world. Just drive until the tires melt. We’ll come back when it’s healed.”
Sitting at the table, listening to the city manager update me on the issues and challenges facing the City, Zach Bryan’s lyrics floated through my mind. I wanted to get in my car and drive—and not come back until the world was healed. Every week it seems there’s a new challenge to respond to in a BANI world: brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible.
Futurist and anthropologist Jamais Cascio coined BANI to describe the world of now—beyond VUCA, and certainly not healed.
But leadership is not about abandoning the field. Leaders must play the hand we’re dealt. And right now, for many, a royal flush is more likely to describe the latest revenue forecast than a winning hand. You’re trying to win with a pair of twos. When the deck is stacked against you, the way to win is to change the game.
How Do We Change the Game?
We reject the binary choices we’re so often offered. Information and decisions are presented in the classic good vs. evil frame. It feels like we must take a side in order to take a stance.
But what if it’s a false choice?
Strong leaders right now don’t just select from a limited menu—they create more choices. Here are three skills you can practice to change the game:
Skill One: Curiosity — Learn to Challenge Your Own Mental Models
We’re often so immersed in our environment that we’re the proverbial fish who can’t see the water. When we understand our own deeply embedded mindsets, we can begin to shift them. Sometimes, that shift comes through someone else’s radically different lens.
At a recent executive off-site, the team began discussing the current constraints they’re facing. One person voiced concern about slipping into a scarcity mindset. Another countered that this was certainly not a time of abundance. A lively debate followed—mostly centered on the “right” language to motivate staff.
Then, during a pause, a team member who had been quietly listening spoke. She is a tribal member, and she offered her truth:
“My people have always had less. I don’t think of it as scarcity—it’s just how things are.”
In that moment, she brought the group to a place beyond toxic positivity or fear-based language. She reminded them that reality doesn’t always need categorizing or spin—just understanding. From that point on, the team stopped arguing about language and began planning for what was actually possible.
She changed the game by changing the thinking.
Skill Two: Accept and Adapt
Many systems we’ve long relied on are crumbling. Coaching conversations are full of leaders trying to make sense of what’s unraveling—while still holding up the sky. They are exhausted. Confused. Baffled.
And for many, their sense of agency—their belief in their ability to shape the future—is rapidly eroding.
Still, while some leaders ask, Why me? Why now?, others ask:
What is possible now that wasn’t before?
We recently interviewed Board members from an organization on the brink. Its very survival was uncertain. While most were gearing up for a fight, one Board member took a different view:
“Sometimes it feels like we can’t change the system. But there’s still so much we can do if we expand our idea of who our customer is.”
He wasn’t walking into a fight—he was walking toward opportunity.
He was ready to change the game.
Skill Three: Courage to Change Your Mind
Recently, my community became deeply divided over a proposed offering for people without homes. A public meeting quickly descended into accusations, assumptions, and fear—soon spilling into the toxic churn of social media. In 24 hours, sides were drawn. Lawsuits were threatened. Ordinances were proposed.
In the middle of this, one leader showed up with something rare: an open heart and an open mind. He had come prepared to fight—but instead, he chose to listen.
What he heard changed him. He stayed up that night thinking, processing, reflecting. Then, he wrote an op-ed that shifted the entire community dialogue.
He didn’t take a side—he invited everyone to imagine a better way forward. He acknowledged the pain on both sides. He empathized, and then he led—with vision, humility, and care.
He changed the game—for all of us.
When the Deck Is Stacked Against You…
There is so much now that leaders simply cannot fix. It’s overwhelming.
But in those moments when you want to drive away, ask yourself:
- How can I change the game?
- What can I let crumble?
- What is the opportunity I can walk toward?
- And how can I invite others to join me?
At Clarity, we believe this is the work of leadership right now.
We help leaders reject the false binaries they’re being handed, and instead craft new choices, design new paths, and create new rules for engagement.
If you’re ready to change the game—we’re ready to work with you.