Reinvention – The New Normal

Remember the term “status quo?”  It seems we don’t hear it as much as we used to.  Back in Kansas, it meant that things were normal, and you knew what to expect from day to day, month to month, and year to year.  But you’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.   Now, we have to check our smart phones to find out how much our world has changed since last night.

In today’s world, if you think you can put your personal or business life on autopilot, you’re wrong.  You’ll be watching as the newest version of the world morphs all around you.  And as a result, you will be left behind.

Reinvention – The New Normal

There’s good news and bad news in this.  The bad news isn’t that bad.  You’ll have to embrace constant change.  The good news is that there will continue to be a virtual avalanche of opportunities that constantly present themselves.

We’ll all have to adapt to this constant change.  And those who get the best results will be those who change because they choose to do so,  not out of fear or because of the competition.  Get excited about the days ahead, because this is just as much a frontier and adventure as the old west or the final frontier, space.

The Pitfalls

In their new book “Reinvention: Accelerating Results In An Age Of Disruption,”  authors Shane Cragun and Kate Sweetman point out the pitfalls, which they call The Six Deadly Blindfolds.  They’re paraphrased here:

• Arrogance: Belief that you know the evolving reality without using current moment feedback.
• Ignoring Feedback: Receiving current feedback, but dismissing it as irrelevant.
• Ignoring Competitors Success:  Refusing to learn from the successful results of the competition.
• Forgetting The Customer:  Forgetting that customer needs and demands will be evolving also.
• Ignoring Problems: Underestimating the potential risks in system and product flaws.
• Avoiding the Unavoidable:  Refusal to see trends and projections that spell disaster ahead.

How To Successfully Navigate

These massive changes need not be the cause of fear.  The same behaviors that have always been the basis of success still apply.  But it will be necessary to make those things business as usual.  The keys, according to Cragun and Sweetman, can be summed up in four measures:

1. Melt Rate.  Is your profession or organization contracting or expanding?
2. Relevance Trend.  Is your product or service becoming more or less relevant to your customers?
3. Adding Value:  Do you continually push yourself or your organization to add more customer value?
4. Internal vs. External Change: Are you or your organization changing at a rate greater or less than your competitors and change in general?

There’s much more within the pages of their book, and if you want to get a good handle on where we’re headed and how to adapt, it’s a must read.

The takeaway: Remain acutely aware, inventive, adaptive, and agile.   Those are the breadcrumbs that will lead to success.  Innovation, creativity, and courage will win the day.   Just as it did on the  frontier.

 

Main image: Irish Typepad Space: Boogeyman13