Easy can get you only so far. To build lasting success you need to embrace difficult

Our modern culture is built around instant gratification.?

We would all like to achieve a lot, without the need for sweat and pain. From an early age we are sold stories of easy diets, routines and supplements that will make us healthy, ripped and smart. We are surrounded by promises of life and business hacks that will bring us success and riches with little to no effort, in as little as 4 hours a week. We really love to believe that.?

But it is a lie.?

Yes, there are some people who claim that they have done it, and that if you buy their book, coaching and courses, you will be able to repeat their success. They are (or maybe just believe to be) smarter than everyone else, but they are now willing to share their secret formula if you give them some of your money.

Guess what. There are more winners of the lottery, for whom it took just one minute to purchase the winning ticket. But you would not buy their book and courses to learn how they did it? They surely could claim that they had a statistical system, or a magical practice to tap into the 'law of attraction', but somehow they are not winning the lottery ever again, and I guess you would be sceptical of such claims.

Because the truth is, there is rarely such a thing as an overnight success, unless someone got very, very lucky.

For the rest of us, who do not have the most lucky karma stacked in our favour, lasting success takes work, determination and sacrifice - as well as smarts (the right ideas, strategy, methods and approaches). And this brings us back to the main point of this article.?

In business, and in life, it is not easy to build a lasting success. And it is unlikely (though nothing is impossible) that you can achieve it by doing everything the same way as everyone else.?

The easiest approaches and ideas have their limitations. Even if they are often very effective, they quickly become copied by everyone and inevitably lose their edge. A fresh and simple idea may be super effective, but unless you are quick to exploit it, you will likely be too late.

Whether we are talking about a technology product development, or a digital growth strategy for your business, low hanging fruit usually has been all picked up, and you need to raise your game and reach higher and build lasting advantage.

This truth clashes with expectations. We’ve all been raised to expect things to be fast and easy. Founders, bosses, clients and shareholders are all expecting quick results, ideally without risk, effort and at low cost. This limits the choices that are available to executives and managers, and unless this tendency is successfully mitigated, impedes the prospects of the business.

One example of this is exclusive focus on the short term, with no, or too little, strategic investment beyond the mid term. The problem with this is that there is a limit to what can be achieved in a short period of time, and that often it is not what would bring maximum benefit to the business.?

If you focus on the short term only, all you can do is to be reactive to the perpetual changes in the market, without knowing whether they are lasting trends or just temporary new fads. This reactive approach is like a dog chasing its tail. It is quite usual that by the time a reactionary new development is introduced, the direction of the market is already ebbing, and it is too late to capture the opportunity.

Industrial, technological and societal changes are happening on different time scales, with the longer term changes and trends being more permanent, unstoppable and predictable. Because they can be predicted and observed from further afar, they are easier to get prepared for. Because they are more permanent, getting ready to capture them creates a more valuable opportunity to the business. Due to this, a smart business strategy aims to find a point of alignment with those strong secular trends, a convergence of their business, product and technology development plans with trends that are going to shape the future, but can be anticipated and profitably exploited.

This is in stark contrast to the very common focus on business as usual, and postponing and avoiding the necessary longer-term investments, and general resistance to change, because of the associated risk and inconvenience of disruption in the short-term. The can is kicked down the road, until something happens and it becomes an existential crisis to the business.?

A recent illustration of the consequences of this is the situation of retail and hospitality in the times of the covid pandemics. Because previously they have been reluctant to invest in digital technology, they had no means of operating in the new situation when it surprised them (and everyone else). Those who were ready, thanks to previous wise investment, benefited greatly from the shift from physical to digital. Those who weren’t got left behind.?

This is even more relevant because the shift to digital was a strong trend ongoing for the last 2-3 decades, with physical retailers gradually losing their share of the market. Yet many businesses were like frogs getting boiled in gradually heated water, never getting sufficient motivation and the sense of urgency to jump out of the pot until it was too late.

Which would be uncomfortable, scary, require a lot of effort and openness to change - in other words would be difficult - but would save their lives and set them up for a win.

I hope that I managed to convince you that it is unlikely to achieve lasting success without doing what is difficult, risky and stretching beyond our comfort zone.

If you disagree with me, have another perspective, would like to expand the subject, or share your views, please use the comments section below.

About the author: Rafal Bergman is an accomplished CTO and business & technology consultant, running his software consultancy IQDEV (iqdev.uk).