The opportunity for change

People and organizations need to change and reinvent themselves or else risk becoming obsolete. The article is highlighted by this quote: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"

Written Mar 11, 2010, read 1374 times since then.

Business writer and author of Change or Die, Alan Deutchman, writes in his article, Three Keys to Change (you can read it here), that even in “do or die” situations, fewer than 10% of the people facing them will make the necessary changes to survive.

I’ve been in the personal growth industry for over 25 years. I’ve worked with thousands of individuals during my career. And by far, change is one of the most difficult things for people to embrace. Big or small, it doesn’t matter. People in general object to change.

Because our world is rapidly changing, people’s opposition to change creates problems. The speed of change has increased exponentially, and there seems to be no signs of slowing down in sight. So our capacity to change – and to do so quickly -- is of paramount importance in today’s business environment.

I’m convinced that people and organizations must reinvent themselves in order to thrive, let alone survive. What this means is that EVERYTHING should be up for discussion. There are no “sacred cows.” The world is a different place with different realities -- ones that didn’t even exist a few years ago. Whining, litigating, fighting or ignoring these realities won’t help. We need to embrace this paradigm as opposed to resisting it.

Fact: the Internet has changed the way we do business.

Fact: technology is making entire industries obsolete in a matter of months.

Fact: how we shop, date, communicate, interact with our kids, etc. is incredibly different today than 10 years ago.

The world is changing at a much faster pace than ever before and yet our ability to process change is not keeping up. Information used to be a very scarce commodity prior to the Internet. Now, the opposite is true. There is too much information and we are practically overwhelmed by it.

"When the facts change, I change my mind.What do you do, sir?" John Maynard Keynes, British Economist

The past two years have been extremely challenging for our company. We lost 90% of our corporate business - which was close to 30% of our total revenues! We knew we were vulnerable because many of our clients were in the finance, mortgage and real estate industries. We knew we needed to change some of our practices and diversify. And yet we didn’t. And so, we paid the price.

Although I must say, as a result of this, we have finally started doing things differently -- more than we ever have before. We are pursuing opportunities we have both ignored and ridiculed in the past. These circumstances of change are both very exciting and very unsettling at the same time. People who have known us over our 18 years in business are wondering if we lost our minds. And to a certain degree we have. Fact: times have changed, and we have changed our minds.

How about you? Are you embracing, fighting or ignoring change?

I would love to hear your thoughts, comments and/or experiences relating to change. Where do you see your greatest challenges and opportunities?

Learn more about the author, Rick Itzkowich.

Posted by Howard Howell, Seattle, Washington | Mar 11, 2010

Rick... Thanks for your insight on a timely subject. "When the facts change..."

The speed of learning new facts seems to be changing the understanding of past facts so quickly that we don't have time to master anything anymore.

It's amazing to me how we created our strategic plans around only the facts that we knew in the past. Today we have so much information that it seems to stymie every plan we attempt because we learn new facts before the new plan is implemented, and now we need to change course.

Great opportunities for the small agile business model. ...Howard
Posted by Leif Hansen, Seattle, Washington | Mar 11, 2010

Hi Rich,

What I like about your article is your honesty about how difficult change has been for you and your call for us to examine our resistance to change, particularly in light of how quickly things are changing these days. A great quote from the Darwin, perhaps the strongest & earliest herald of the importance of change/evolution, related to this:

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."

and

"In the long history of humankind...those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed."

I would like to have heard more about the 'opportunities' for change, implied in the title, and some tangible steps to take, etc. Thanks for opening up the discussion though!
Posted by Jan Sheeley, Seattle, Washington | Mar 11, 2010

Hi Rick,

While I do believe companies must evolve and adapt constantly to stay viable in the business arena I feel reinvent is a strong word. That said if there has been no flexibility in the model for many years reinvention may be the only alternative to staying alive.

The world has changed and changed forever, smart companies realize this and seize the opportunity, for that is what it is. How exciting to find new ways to connect with your customers where and when they like, and new avenues to grow your brand.

Taking action is empowering, staying still builds anxiety and frustration. Thanks for demonstrating moving forward is the right thing to do!
Posted by Paul McFadden, Bellevue, Washington | Mar 12, 2010

Rick: Thanks for posting. I was listening to Brian Tracy recently and remember the quote about how our jobs will look totally different five years from now. The slogan "adapt or die" has never been more true. Thanks again!
Posted by Kathy Nelson, San Diego, California | Mar 12, 2010

Thanks Rick for the timely and important focus on change. And thanks for the authenticity in sharing about your own business challenge in the last two years.

You are right, it is not business as usual. We have moved into new times and it is either get on board or get left behind.

With that realization I am changing marketing, website, and have embraced social media. I am planting my seeds for company growth by learning all I can about branding, writing, resources, and helping others to their success - through bringing business clients into online marketing as a major part of their plan for 2010. That has included blogging, article writing, etc. My clients are changing the things they do and using strengths they have or finding others who do and delegating.

It isn't always that we have to change who we are, but we do have to change the things we do in business to reach and speak to our target market in today's marketplace.

I admire the changes you have made and believe you set a great example for how it can be done. You are inspiring us to keep learning and trying new things we might think are beyond us, or our generation! In turn we might subdue our fears and find out we can stretch and succeed in ways we never believed we could. Kathy
Posted by Rick Itzkowich, La Jolla, California | Mar 12, 2010

Jan, Paul & Kathy,

I appreciate your thoughtful comments and participation with this column.
Posted by Marte Cliff, Priest River, Idaho | Mar 12, 2010

Rick - We walk a fine line between embracing change and hanging on to values that go as far back as our founding fathers. (Funny, but some of their quotes do make perfect sense today.)

If it were not for change - specifically the Internet - I could not be in business today. This change allows me to connect with potential customers across the U.S. and even in other countries.

But I'm still resisting one change - the switch to video. Not only do I not know how to use it, I think this mad rush is counter-productive. Over half the Internet users (such as me) still can't comfortably watch video because they don't have high speed connections. Some have dial up, and some, like me, have a satellite connection... and video just doesn't work.

I know I need to do this for the 40% of potential customers who can appreciate it, but...

One of these days I'll give myself a swift kick and get with it. Just not today.
Posted by Rick Itzkowich, La Jolla, California | Mar 12, 2010

Marte,

I feel your pain! I have very similar feelings when it comes to SMS texting.
Posted by Kate Phillips, Seattle, Washington | Mar 14, 2010

Rick,

I have too made changed to "respond" to what the market seemed to be asking for. Personal Development seemed less in demand, business development more needed... And now, months later, I am realizing I may have "changed" more than I intended, because after all, there is still a tremendous need for the thing that orginally inspired me... i.e., maybe it wasn't so much my business model that needed changing, but my marketing model... At any rate,when circustances change, we need to be responsive.

THanks for the good topic and questions. Would love to know more about HOW you changed in response to the loss of corporate clients.
Posted by Rick Itzkowich, La Jolla, California | Mar 14, 2010

Kate,

Below are some of things we have done differently:

1- The first thing we did was commit to the product side of our business. We had been dabbling in getting some products out but never fully committed to doing this. We since allocated a good chunk of money and people resources to this area.

2- We also realized that sales process that relied on one-to-one sales was NEVER going to allow us to grow the way we need to on the front end of our funnel. So we committed to developing alliances with other businesses to bring in groups of new people into our funnel. We hired a person to focus on this area as their only responsibility.

3- We developed a strategic alliance with a Network Marketing organization. This was a major shift for us since we have had such opposition to working with that industry in the past.

4- We hired some support staff to help us with the implementation of many of the programs that get started but don't get followed through because or sales staff is already maxed out.

All of the above has required my partner and I to significantly increase our tolerance for risk and to put in a significant amount of money as well.

So far our future looks brighter than ever thanks to these changes. We have more opportunities for growth than we've ever had. However things in the short term are still pretty challenging. We are having to negotiate a significant increase in our expenses while some of the revenues have yet to materialize.
Posted by Bobbi Jo Woods, Maplewood, Minnesota | Mar 17, 2010

I usually am open to change. Changing brands of household supplies and foods I use daily, changing my mind, etc. My worst personality trait is my indecisiveness, which is only a recent one, because typically, I am the kind of person who makes decisions on something and sticks with it, usually in disregard of the end result or consequences...but lately I've learned to try not to do that, so now I play eenie-meenie-minie-mo all the time!

But I digress.

In my business, I've noticed lots of change, and well, while change is inevitable in the industry I'm in (web design--where things change constantly), the fact that I focus my marketing in B2B has never changed.

However, I am noticing the kinds of businesses and potential clients in the past 5 years, are changing all the time, people popping up who need different types of websites & web services. I've learned quickly that this means that I have to adapt my services to meet the needs of these newer breeds of potential customers, or else deal with the loss of potential business, if I don't.

It's a very tight industry that I'm in, and competing is difficult. Luckily, I've had some help, mostly from people with excellent marketing skills and an ear to listen--and their feedback has given me some great insight as to how I can make small shifts in what I do and what services I offer, as well as how to keep top of mind with the new types of potential clients, in an effort to stay relevant and earn their business (not to mention trust).
Posted by Brian Reiser, Stoughton, Massachusetts | Mar 17, 2010

I've been fighting change for a while. However growing a business is all about change. If we can't adapt and compensate our business plan our business has little chance of improving. The only thing people should be aware of is sometimes we try to change to much and for the wrong reasons.
Posted by Briana Barrett (soon-to-be-..., Seattle, Washington | Mar 18, 2010

For a moment I hoped the article would be be about Dynamic Self-Governance. Fact: that changed when I enjoyed it thoroughly!

I agree with Brian: when we try to change too much or for the wrong reasons, it can be both painful and unnecessary. And I might add, also, when we instigate new changes before the results are in from the initial changes. In change processes, observation and measurement of the right data is so precious.

I find it helpful to do change both systematically and backwards:

systematically: the change process itself is one that very person and business has done before. Once it's known how change happens best for a given individual/team/society, the PROCESS OF CHANGE can be a comforting constant, tried and true. And if it turns out that that process is dysfunctional, that might be a better explanation of resistance to change than people's nature!

backwards: we all know we need a vision and a mission, and it serves us to revisit them, open to changing them until it has the scope and value that is needed to motivate. Sometimes a vision is to dissolve a business after a certain goal is achieved (say everyone already owns a widget!) what would the new vision be? And backcasting (vs. forecasting) from the latter vision, how can we sell and distribute widgets in a way that readies us for that time, now?
Posted by Ari Klein, Port Townsend, Washington | Mar 23, 2010

Rick,

Thank you for your article, and the lively discussion. Thank you Brianna for the concept of change as a comforting constant. I have always been in the process of change for the whole ten years that I have had a consulting business and private practice. The hard part is to predict the shifts in technology, the market, and mindshare of the client base.

I started as an executive coach and life coach in 1999. I moved with my market, away from 'team' coaching for productivity, to executive coaching for leadership and organizational growth. As that market shrank (partly because of increased competition), I shifted to growing the leadership potential of high performing mid-management, grooming them to be execs based on my experience with execs. This took me into broader personal growth and career shifts; and adding on retirement coaching for the client base of execs I'd previously coached. Each change built on the other. The other trend I saw was the move out of this same base out of corporate to entrepeneurship in both for profit and non-profit sectors. With the proliferation of coaches, I went back to school and trained in hypnotherapy to add new tools for growth that other coaches didn't have. Finally, I went back to school again and developed a specialization in medical support hypnotherapy. I find that integrating both coaching and hypnotherapy is very potent. My branding shifted along the way from 'A Perfect Balance' to 'Leadership Alignment' and more recently to 'Quantum Life Integration'. My eye to the state regulatory process predicts full regulation and licensing of hypnotherapy, and I am now trained and ready for this. I also extended to the medical support field, as eyes are now on new ways to accelerate healing and save medical costs. Many insurance companies already provide partial reimbursement for medical support hypnotherapy. At the core of all my work from the start in 1999 to today is the commitment to help high performing indivduals accelerate growth and wellness, helping them with past integration and future actuation.

It's always a challeng to create sustainable change in an evironment where change is so accelerated. What I've found is that each shift must be strongly rooted in your previous cycle. Consider the IPAD rollout by Apple. It is the first tool to go without external non-electronic input. No CD's anymore folks! They've projected into the next stage while at the same time creating it out the success of the Iphone platform, which itself was an extension out of the IPod platform. It's commitment to provide tools that are fun and intuitive is Apple's change in all of its business cycles. So my suggestion to all is to remain rooted in your values and vision and explore where this will take your business based on scanning the environment. The key is to scan for what might have possible impact on you and your business, ignoring the rest of the food of information. Yes, I said ignore! The same ways as medical doctors stick to scanning for information that impacts their specialization.

Feet in the present, eyes to the future!