Change is happening fast. Constantly.
Companies who don’t evolve, are being left behind.
When it comes to observing the rate of change, nobody knows it best like a business owner. New companies in your industry spring up overnight and the revolutionary products of last year or the year before, are now old news. Companies that don’t integrate their technologies and keep them best-in-class are rendered obsolete as the market out paces them.
But that’s not you.
Most leaders have some level of recognition that the “that’s how we’ve always done it” mindset isn’t going to work forever.
Beyond technology, there’s the shifting powers between west and east that effects everything from appetite for new products, to the price of cryptocurrency and everything in between.
Leaders like you, are confronted with an increasing rate of change and complexity and finding ways to deal with it is probably one of the reasons you’re reading this blog post.
“Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future” ~ John F Kennedy
Companies that are the change drivers
Disruptive companies we know that challenge the status quo and end up becoming industry leaders were not looking for mere strategic advantages over the competition. They were resolute and purposeful about empowering their teams to breed new ideas and bring them to life.
Ignore the usual cliches about technology and change.
What’s driving the acceleration? It’s companies that have, in just a few years, been able to make a greater impact on the way we live. Technology of course was instrumental in that. But more importantly the flashes of inspiration that struck so many founders, and disrupters-to-be, is the real source of the power.
To Drive Innovation. Drive Culture.
By their very nature, inspirations are unforeseen and fleeting. They can’t be mustererd up, or forced. They just happen. And that’s why team culture is so important.
Constantly adapting in an ever changing landscape will be the key to success. A plan laid out (as good as that is) isn’t what it used to be, because the problem is:
Even strategy will suffer at the hands of rapid change.
An articlein Wall Street Journal announced, “strategy, as we know it, is dead” in the current economic environment.
Executives, it reported, were adopting “just-in-time” decision-making. There is no longer time to “predict the future” and, anyway, the future was too uncertain. Now, quick adaptation and decisions were needed. Amazingly, some companies had even created “situation rooms” to monitor current events to support quicker decisions.
I don’t know about you, but I find that exciting.
The victory goes to the agile. Being able to pivot and shift, and morph to fit the changing demands of customers, the emergence of new sales & marketing technologies, algorithm updates on social media, and brand new platforms all make for a dynamic and enjoyable business.
In fact, it could be the very thing that puts you leagues above your competitors.
Every single day, I get a front-row seat to see how sales and marketing technology is transforming how we do business. The one thing that every company I work with has in common is everyone is trying to increase the efficiency of their business.
I’m extremely fortunate to have conversations with top executives and entrepreneurs from leading companies around the world where I have an opportunity to understand how their organisations are changing. What’s been fascinating to me is that changes in technology are bringing about even more dramatic changes in how organisations think about their people and processes.
The answer is really about changing the way we think – how do we drive agility
“If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” ~ Jack Welch
Most of us really don’t like change. But the truth is, we will never live our dreams if we don't decide that change is necessary. You might think you're too young to be an industry leader, or too old to re-invent yourself for the digital age, or that your business revenue is hitting a glass ceiling. But NOTHING is further from the truth.
As a business owner, you need to be able to evolve your business, or be left behind. In my next post, I discuss how thinking like an athlete helps you to be the instigator for your own success. Meanwhile, if you liked this blog post, please don’t forget to share it.