Earning Your Seat: Natural vs. Adjacent Rights to Play
Understand where your inherent authority lies and how to strategically build credibility to access new opportunities, shaping your strategic influence.
Futurist AJ Bubb, founder of MxP Studio, and host of Facing Disruption, bridges people and AI to accelerate innovation and business growth.
In the fast-evolving landscape of modern business and technology, the question of “whose seat is this really?” often looms large. Every professional, every organization, faces a continuous struggle to define its space, assert its value, and influence critical decisions. This isn’t just about vying for a promotion or winning a new client; it’s about identifying where your inherent authority truly lies - your natural right to play - and understanding the systematic effort required to earn credibility in new spaces - your adjacent right to play. The stakes are high: misjudging this can lead to wasted resources, diminished influence, and a failure to capitalize on genuine opportunities. It impacts everything from individual career trajectories to enterprise transformation initiatives, dictating whether innovations gain traction or wither on the vine because the perceived expertise simply isn’t there.
This critical distinction was a central theme in a recent “Facing Disruption” webcast. Host AJ Bubb, a seasoned strategist with a background spanning AWS cloud transformation, defense innovation, and AI strategy, explored the practical implications of these concepts, drawing from real-world scenarios and career arcs throughout the discussion. His own journey from deep technical expertise at AWS to broader strategic advisory roles in AI serves as a powerful lens for understanding how to navigate natural and adjacent rights. We’ll examine how discerning these “rights” empowers executives and teams to focus their efforts, build genuine authority, and ultimately, drive more impactful change.
The Foundational Concept: Natural vs. Adjacent Rights
At its core, the natural vs. adjacent right to play framework provides a lens through which to evaluate professional and organizational authority. A natural right to play refers to the inherent authority you possess due to your core competence, established track record, and irrefutable expertise. This is the table where you are not just invited, but expected; your voice carries immediate weight because it’s precisely what you’re known for. Think of a cybersecurity expert advising on data breaches, or an economist forecasting market trends. Their value is self-evident and deeply rooted in their domain.
Conversely, an adjacent right to play is a space where your existing expertise provides a logical, but not automatic, bridge to a new domain. Here, you need to earn your credibility. Your entry is earned, not given. For example, a marketing executive transitioning to lead a product development team might have an adjacent right. Their understanding of customer needs and market dynamics is highly relevant, but they’ll need to demonstrate competence in engineering processes, technical feasibility, and team leadership in an entirely new context. Successfully navigating adjacent rights requires strategic effort, careful positioning, and a disciplined approach to building new forms of trust and expertise.
AJ Bubb often illustrates this through his own career path. His time at AWS provided an indisputable natural right to play in cloud infrastructure and enterprise architecture. He knew the technology inside and out, understood its implications for large organizations, and had the hands-on experience to back it up. When he transitioned to consulting and then to AI strategy, he was moving into adjacent territories. While cloud expertise is foundational for much of modern AI, it doesn’t automatically confer authority on AI ethics, model development, or strategic application across disparate industries. He had to systematically build new knowledge, engage with emerging research, and apply his strategic thinking to these new problems, effectively earning his adjacent right to play in AI strategy.
This concept isn’t limited to individuals. Companies face this continually. Consider a traditional automotive manufacturer. Their natural right to play is in designing, engineering, and mass-producing internal combustion engine vehicles. When they venture into electric vehicles, autonomous driving, or mobility services, they’re stepping into an adjacent right. While their manufacturing prowess is valuable, they must acquire new software capabilities, battery technology expertise, and even different business models. Harvard Business Review research consistently highlights that companies often fail in these adjacent moves not due to lack of effort, but due to a misunderstanding of the credibility-building required beyond their core competencies.
Strategic Table Selection: Where to Invest Your Credibility Currency
Understanding natural versus adjacent rights isn’t merely an academic exercise; it’s a strategic imperative. This framework helps individuals and organizations make informed decisions about which “tables” to sit at, which opportunities to pursue, and where to invest their finite resources - time, capital, and reputation. As AJ emphasized in the webcast, not all opportunities are created equal, and some battles for credibility simply aren’t worth fighting.
Let’s consider the executive struggling with a saturated market. Their natural right might be in optimizing existing operations. But sustained growth demands an adjacent move, perhaps into new market segments or a new product line. The decision isn’t just about market potential; it’s about whether the organization can realistically earn the credibility to succeed there. McKinsey’s work on corporate strategy often emphasizes the importance of “adjacency expansion” - but critically, it notes that successful expansions are usually into areas that leverage existing capabilities rather than requiring a complete reinvention. For instance, a software company specializing in CRM systems might find an adjacent right in marketing automation, leveraging shared customer data and sales processes. Attempting to build a completely separate hardware division, however, would likely be a bridge too far, requiring a wholly new natural right.
For individuals, this translates to career positioning. A seasoned project manager with a natural right in delivering complex IT projects might eye a role in strategic innovation. This is an adjacent move. Instead of just applying for the role, they need to systematically build their adjacent right - perhaps through studying design thinking, leading internal innovation challenges, or authoring thought pieces on future trends. This deliberate cultivation of new skills and visible contributions signals to stakeholders that their credibility is expanding. Without this intentional effort, their applications might be dismissed as “not a fit,” not because they lack potential, but because they haven’t adequately demonstrated their earned right to play in that new domain.
AJ often advises listeners to perform a “credibility audit.” Where do people naturally seek your opinion? Where do you feel most authoritative? Those are your natural rights. Then, where do you aspire to exert influence? That’s your adjacent territory. The gap between the two highlights the work required. “You can’t just declare yourself an expert in something new,” AJ notes. “You have to do the reps, build the body of work, and let others recognize your emerging authority.” This disciplined approach helps avoid the trap of pursuing every shiny new opportunity, which can dilute influence and burn out resources.
Navigating Domain Intersection and Credibility Building
The journey from a natural right to a successfully established adjacent right often involves navigating complex domain intersections. It’s rarely about abandoning your core expertise but rather about strategically connecting it to new areas, creating unique value propositions at those intersections. This blend of existing strength with newly acquired credibility is often what creates truly disruptive leadership and innovation.
Think about the convergence of biotechnology and artificial intelligence. A seasoned biologist has a natural right in life sciences research. An AI engineer has a natural right in machine learning algorithms. When these two professionals collaborate or when one deliberately acquires expertise in the other’s domain, they create an invaluable adjacent right to play in “AI for drug discovery” or “personalized medicine.” This didn’t happen overnight. It required biologists to learn about data science, and AI engineers to understand biological systems, publishing joint research, and building interdisciplinary teams. The RAND Corporation, in its analysis of emerging defense capabilities, often points to these interdisciplinary intersections as key drivers of future advantage, highlighting how capabilities are layered to create entirely new forms of strategic leverage.
A poignant example from the “Facing Disruption” conversation revolved around a company that excelled in traditional manufacturing but saw the imperative of IoT and predictive maintenance. Their natural right was in precise mechanical engineering. The adjacent right required expertise in sensor technology, data analytics, and software integration. They didn’t scrap their engineering team; they upskilled them and hired data scientists who deeply embedded themselves with the engineers. This wasn’t about the data scientists taking over, but about them earning their adjacent right to influence manufacturing processes by demonstrating practical value, speaking the language of engineering, and collaboratively solving problems.
The key here, as AJ stressed, is “systematic effort.” It’s not enough to intellectually understand the new domain. You need to immerse yourself, experiment, fail fast, and build tangible artifacts of your new competence. This could mean leading a pilot project outside your traditional scope, actively participating in a new industry working group, or even pursuing executive education in the new field. Deloitte’s research on digital transformation consistently shows that successful transformations often involve leaders deliberately cultivating new “digital muscles” - capabilities that start as adjacent but eventually become core to the organization’s new natural rights.
Actionable Steps for Earning Your Adjacent Seat
So, how does one actively earn an adjacent right to play? The webcast distilled several practical strategies for executives and professionals looking to expand their influence and effectiveness.
For Executives and Leaders:
Perform a Strategic Portfolio Audit: Evaluate your organization’s current initiatives. For each major strategic thrust, ask: “Do we have a natural right to play here, or is this an adjacent move?” If it’s adjacent, assess the depth of effort required to build that credibility. Are we equipped, or are we underestimating the climb?
Invest in Cross-Functional Rotations and Upskilling: Force the earning of adjacent rights internally. Rotate high-potential leaders through different divisions. Create joint task forces that deliberately blend natural rights (e.g., engineering and sales for a new product launch). Invest in learning pathways that bridge existing and desired new competencies.
Cultivate Ecosystem Partnerships Strategically: You don’t have to build every adjacent right organically. Partner with organizations that already possess the natural right you need. This could be through joint ventures, strategic alliances, or even acquiring smaller, specialized firms that fill a credibility gap. Be clear on the terms of engagement and how you will learn from and integrate their natural expertise.
Lead with the “So What”: When venturing into adjacent areas, translate your existing natural right into value for the new domain. Don’t just talk about your past successes; articulate how that expertise solves challenges in the adjacent space. For example, an operations leader moving into sustainability should frame their deep understanding of efficiency and supply chains as critical to achieving sustainable practices.
For Individual Professionals:
Identify Your “Credibility North Star”: Where do you want to eventually have a natural right to play? This vision will guide your adjacent moves. If your North Star is “AI Ethics,” your current natural right in “data privacy” gives you an adjacent pathway.
Build a “Bridge Portfolio”: Actively seek out projects, committees, or even volunteer opportunities that allow you to apply your natural right to problems in your desired adjacent domain. This creates tangible examples of your evolving expertise. If you’re a finance expert aspiring to innovation strategy, offer to build the business case for a new R&D initiative.
Engage in Structured Learning AND Practice: Don’t just consume content in the adjacent domain; actively apply it. Take a course, earn a certification, but more importantly, find a sandbox to experiment in. Join hackathons, contribute to open-source projects, or start a side project. MIT Sloan’s executive programs emphasize this blend of theory and applied learning as crucial for leadership development in new tech frontiers.
Seek Out Mentors in the Adjacent Space: Connect with individuals who already possess a natural right in your target adjacent domain. Learn from their experiences, seek their feedback on your ideas, and understand the unwritten rules of that table. Networking isn’t just about collecting contacts; it’s about connecting with knowledge.
The Long Game: Sustained Relevance in Disrupted Futures
The journey of earning your seat - whether natural or adjacent - is never truly finished. In an era defined by continuous disruption, the boundaries of natural and adjacent rights are constantly shifting. What was once an adjacent novelty can quickly become a natural necessity. The ability to discern these shifts, proactively build new credibility, and strategically choose where to invest one’s influence becomes paramount for sustained relevance. As AJ Bubb articulated throughout the webcast, this isn’t about chasing every trend, but about thoughtful, intentional positioning.
The core insight remains: expertise must be cultivated and demonstrated; it is rarely just inherited through proximity. For executives grappling with AI integration across their enterprises, understanding whether their teams have a natural right to implement complex models or if they need to build an adjacent right through talent acquisition and strategic partnerships is the difference between success and costly failure. For individuals navigating complex career transitions, correctly identifying their natural stronghold allows them to anchor their identity while methodically building the bridges to new, impactful domains. Ultimately, mastering the distinction between natural and adjacent rights to play equips leaders with a powerful strategic framework, enabling them to make smarter choices, build authentic authority, and confidently shape their futures in an increasingly complex world.
The conversation concluded with a strong emphasis on the human element. While technologies change, the fundamental need for trust, competence, and demonstrated value remains constant. Your right to play is ultimately granted by those you seek to influence, a mandate earned through consistent performance and genuine contribution, whether from a position of inherent authority or through the strategic, systematic effort of building new credibility. It’s about earning that seat at the table, not just occupying it.
