1. Change sucks.
When one has to change one has to unlearn and learn.
Twist oneself into new shapes.
Make mistakes. Look foolish. Be uncertain.
Change is not easy nor good.
It sucks.
But irrelevance is even worse.
2. Inner Dinosaur Disease ( IDD)
All of us suffer from Inner Dinosaur Disease.
We ourselves struggle to change and so we do the IDD 2-Step
Step one is the Deflection Dance.
We blame our inability to change on our bosses, a terrible work culture, stuck in the mud clients, P and L pressures or point to failed experiments in the past.
Step two is the Botox Bling.
Announce the retention of a Consulting firm who, over the next X months, will benchmark and develop a plan of action. Launch a Vision or Change 202X task force to “get out in front” of change. Hire a talent agency, next generation modern marketing firm, or niche agency, then issue a press release. Re-launch a quiet, unsupported brand or initiative with a small budget dedicated to a new way so there is something to point to.
3. Change is less about a company and it is more about people.
Companies do not transform.
People do.
Having a strategy, pursing M&A or acquire hires and re-organization are often necessary steps in making change happen.
But not sufficient.
Unless one explains to people why the change is good for them, incentivize them to do the new tasks and ways of behaving and provide training change will not happen.
No personal alignment. No incentive alignment. No training investment.
No change.
Just Boards with press releases and shiny puffed up consultant decks and excel spreadsheets with pivot tables galore.
4. Change is about what leaders do and not what they say.
Change is scary and like never before is there a need for trust and integrity as one enters a world of uncertainty.
If there are gaps between what leaders say, do and believe they will not be able to bring about change.
Today the challenge to change is not tech or strategy but aligned incentives, truthful conversation and trust.
Leadership must inspire with clarity. Be absolutely candid as to what is being done and how it is being done and show that they are doing exactly what they expect of others.
5. To deal with change think like an immigrant.
We are all immigrating at fast speeds into an unknown country called the future.
Things are different there. Current business models may not hold. Current knowledge and experience may matter less. New skills and mindsets could be important.
To thrive we should think like immigrants.
A) Immigrants think like outsiders: When big change happens the opportunities and challenges come from outside one’s category or group of power brokers one hangs out with. Tesla and Uber came from outside the automobile leaders. Dollar Shave Club shocked Procter and Gamble. The biggest mistake is to benchmark against current competitors, go to the same conferences and parrot what everybody else is saying.
B) Immigrants think like underdogs: When someone says they live in a castle surrounded by a moat, an underdog sees the moat as a source of water to flood one out of the castle. Today, AI technology is the slingshot that allows David to bring down Goliath. Scale matters less. Speed, ingenuity, agility matter more. Scamper do not strut.
C) Immigrants think short term pain is a worthwhile tradeoff for long term gain: Focussing on ensuring margins versus investing for the future, continuing to manage slow decline versus making the hard calls to change the trajectory is what is called for. As Ringo Starr might say about Change. “It don’t come Easy”.
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