Change or be changed.

“It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.”

---Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

I have been a change agent for most of my professional life. Let's define that: A change agent is a person from inside or outside an organization who helps an organization, or part of an organization, to transform how it operates.  

I didn't seek to be one. I don't think anyone who leads or is a part of change, does seek that role. Circumstances present themselves And you either react and step up to them, or you accept where you are and stay the course, accepting the risks with the situation ‘as is’.  

What I have come to accept is that there is less risk in accepting the change ahead than staying the course. That's why I have enjoyed being a change agent and enjoying change. Staying put can be the riskiest course.  Think there is safety in the size of your company?  Or maybe in market you are in? 

I grew up in the 1970s/1980s in Pittsburgh where steel reigned king. And people didn't want to change. They felt secure in their jobs and their communities created because of steel. It was false security. It was disrupted and Pittsburgh suffered greatly. It was a lucky city that recovered. However, the change took too many years and the result is a smaller city with infrastructure and governance that is not rightsized. We still grasp the change and its legacy and impact. And we were one of the lucky cities.

So, let's look at businesses. Let's start with a fact and I will restate staying in the company and/or market you’re in maybe the least safe place to be. If you’re looking for safety or security, it doesn't exist. 

Legally formed businesses are not that old of an idea. The New Oxford History of England that covers 1846 to 1886 does not find room to discuss the invention of the company in its 720 pages. In the United States, New Jersey was the first state to adopt an "enabling" corporate law, with the goal of attracting more business to the state, in 1896. And by the way, the idea of a corporation was an innovation at the time.

Let's fast forward. Comparing the 1955 Fortune 500 companies to the 2017 Fortune 500---62 years'-- there are only 60 companies that appear in both lists. 87% disappeared off the list. A recent study by McKinsey found that the average lifespan of companies listed in Standard & Poor's 500 was 61 years in 1958. Today, it is less than 18 years. McKinsey believes that, in 2027, 75% of the companies currently quoted on the S&P 500 will have disappeared. 51 percent of small businesses are 10 years old or less, and 32 percent of small businesses are 5 years old or less.

The inability to adapt and change is #1 reason for the shortening of an entity’s lifespan. 

Baker Tilly in their posting ‘Why businesses fail to adapt to change’, lists three primary reasons for why business fail to change: 

·      Unwillingness to change. A firm’s routine and dominant responses will often form into habits and become ingrained as a part of the firm’s culture, therefore making it difficult to adapt to new approaches when faced with change.

·      Innovative Capability. A firm’s routine and dominant responses will often form into habits and become ingrained as a part of the firm’s culture, therefore making it difficult to adapt to new approaches when faced with change.

·      Diversity. it is important to have diversity in the workplace in order to minimize these inevitable blind spots. The solution in this is to hire people with different frames of reference, creating a diverse workforce and fostering an environment where all ideas are welcome so that employees feel comfortable sharing ideas and opinions.

Just on October 8, 2020, IBM announced that the company would be spinning off some of its lines of business into a new company and focusing on cloud services. IBM has made major changes before.  It started in the 1880s as the Calculating-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR), moved from typewriters to mainframes to personal computers to professional services, and now AI/Cloud. That's how it survives and grows. Only once when it became too dependent on its existing business in the late 1980s/early 1990s did it experience a near-death. 

That's what successful organizations do. They realize that they never have it all worked out.  Cash cows make the best burgers. Kill your cash cow before two people in a garage do it for you. Attack yourself. Before your competition does. 

How many of your reading this have an iPhone or Android phone? 

BlackBerry once reigned as king of the smartphone, selling more than 50 million units at its peak in 2011. At one time, BlackBerry controlled 50% of the smartphone market in the US and 20% globally.

In early 2017, Gartner reported that Blackberry’s hardware business had officially crumbled into dust, with a global market share of 0.0%.

Yes, you read that right.

Zero.

Nil. Zilch. Nada.

I have witnessed the inability to change in almost every instance of my career. In my earliest days as a product manager, I used the proceeds of our cash cow product to place bets and both build and acquire new products that would lead to the growth of the overall market segment we played. It was a lesson not lost on me. Even in a University setting, I find it interesting that new master's programs are called ‘specialty’ master's, as if they may not or cannot be the actual future platforms of higher education, that they are somewhat ‘less’ than the ‘real’ degrees that are in the maturity or even decline of their life cycle. These newer degrees are in many cases a response to market demands of employers and provide direct outcomes, i.e. jobs, for graduates who take on heavy and ever-increasing tuition.  Every offer, even a degree from a University, has a life cycle. What we choose to bring to the market today needs to be constantly re-evaluated, changed, and in some cases eliminated. 

And as external events like COVID accelerate the need for change and the rate of change and acceptance of new markets and technologies (digital retailing, telemedicine, remote work, cord-cutting, fast-casual, open-source solutions, contactless payments, etc.) if you were not already preparing or even executing on your next-gen plans, you’re behind. 

Yes, it's difficult. Very difficult. 

As stated in Psychology Today ‘Why Change is So Hard’: “The mere mention of the word "change" may cause some to feel uneasy. We often find ourselves resisting change, perhaps because of the perceived risk or fear associated with it. This resistance can be seen in the student who always finds himself or herself procrastinating, the 10-year smoker who keeps having "one more," or the overly stressed boss who continues to add to his plate. It’s an interesting predicament we put ourselves in. So why do we have such a hard time initiating or following through with our desire to change?”

It's only when you accept that the where you are now is actually riskier than moving forward into the unknown can you accept the change. 

Good luck on the journey. 

What are your experiences with change?