Opportunity for Change is Now

It seems right now in this age of COVID-19 that every single day is creating new guidelines for life and how to go about it. Whatever I write and post today could be outdated by the time you read this tomorrow or next week. That is how fast things are moving and changing right now. The downside is that this is affecting travel, work, communication, interaction, family, and every other part of what we do as people. The upside of this situation is that it is creating an opportunity to do things differently.

Every time our company has evolved, it was out of a necessity for change. Growth doesn't typically happen without some pain to spur it on. In almost every situation it is difficult to make changes when things are going well. I mean, like the old saying goes, "if it's not broke, don't fix it", right? Leadership books, podcasts, seminars, etc will tell you that those good times are the exact times to look for those improvements. It is great advice in theory but in practice it is difficult to achieve. The typical response is to think about some possible opportunities but not make any instant changes Instead to ride those good times out until they break down then figure out what went wrong and course correct. Then suddenly something like the current state of affairs pops up and smacks us upside the head.

The good news is that with conflict comes opportunity. It is amazing how quickly we can get things done when it is out of necessity and not simply when we have time. Within our own company, as news breaks daily, we have found and created better ways to communicate with our customers and our staff. We have made it possible for members of our team to tele-work. We have been able to utilize technology for more video chats and information sharing. We are deep cleaning our personal work areas and evaluating the best possible use of space and evolving our facility. All of this because of the current state of affairs in the world.

Even though this situation is so far from ideal and I would never, ever, ever, hope to have us experience the craziness that is the Coronavirus, it has created a catalyst for growth and change.These changes are not only going to sustain us through this issue but make us better in the long term because the changes are actually things that we have been meaning to do, but "don't have time for", or "have always done it a certain way so why change". It is time to embrace the situation for what it is, an opportunity to change.