The Rubber Band Principle: Why Pharma Leaders Need Productive Tension to Thrive in the AI Era
Is your expertise actually holding you back? The uncomfortable truth about leadership growth in pharma.
HT4LL-20250505
The pharmaceutical industry rewards mastery of complex processes and consistent delivery. But here's the paradox: the very expertise that got you here might be limiting your future growth. While you focus on navigating today's challenges, tomorrow's revolution—leading hybrid human-AI teams—requires a fundamentally different mindset.
The Power of Productive Tension
Think about a rubber band. It's only useful when stretched.
The same applies to leadership. Growth happens exclusively outside your comfort zone—that familiar space where stress is low but development potential flatlines. In pharma, where high stakes foster risk aversion, this principle becomes even more crucial.
You might be thinking, "We're already adopting AI and digital health initiatives." That's commendable, but ask yourself: Are you truly embracing the discomfort of reimagining how AI might transform your leadership approach? Are you preparing for a future where your team collaborates with AI agents?
The Overlooked Danger: Organizational Stiffness
Consider what happens when stretching a muscle:
A properly stretched muscle holds productive tension—energy ready for action
An overstretched muscle risks injury
A stiff, inflexible muscle is most vulnerable to damage when stretched
This third point is what many pharma leaders miss. Organizational stiffness—rigid mindsets, inflexible processes, resistance to new ideas—dramatically increases your vulnerability to disruption. As AI and digital health transform the industry, this stiffness raises the risk of your team "snapping" under pressure.
Your Leadership Stretching Routine
Here's your three-part "stretching routine" to simultaneously build tension and flexibility:
Map Your Comfort Zones: Where have you become complacent? Perhaps it's in viewing AI as merely a tool rather than a potential collaborator. What technologies or approaches have you hesitated to fully embrace?
Intentionally Choose Discomfort: Growth-producing stretching feels uncomfortable initially. Make deliberate choices to step into that discomfort—learn skills outside your expertise (using AI as your tutor) or initiate difficult conversations about fundamental change.
Build Flexibility as a Daily Practice: Integrate regular "flexibility training" into your team's rhythm: cross-skill development, diverse perspectives, agile methodologies. Just as muscles need consistent stretching to maintain mobility, organizations need continuous effort to remain adaptable.
The Competitive Advantage: Resilience Through Flexibility
Leaders who master this dual approach—creating productive tension while building organizational flexibility—develop a distinct competitive advantage. They build teams that not only innovate but can weather industry volatility with remarkable resilience.
This capability distinguishes exceptional leaders from merely effective ones. It's the courage to push boundaries while simultaneously developing the adaptability to bend without breaking.
Ultimately, this commitment positions you, your team, and your R&D efforts to make a more profound impact on the patients you serve.
Are you comfortable being uncomfortable? Your growth—and your organization's future—depends on it.
Feel free to reach out to me if you want to discuss this further.
Inspired by John C. Maxwell's "Law of the Rubber Band" in The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth.