Responding to the Challenge of Change
How do you see change? Is it a threat or an opportunity?
If you see change as a threat, you're taking a 'glass-half empty' perspective. You may say, 'I can't keep up with this constant technological innovation. There's something new to learn every week. It's like I never left high school!' You'll be annoyed whenever there's a new trend in management. You'll wince whenever you hear of competitors introducing new business processes. You'll see change as the slings and arrows of business misfortune.
On the other hand, if you see change as an opportunity, you're taking a 'glass-half full' perspective. You may think, 'Every time there's a change, new niches open up.' You know that some of your competitors will be slow to adapt and you'll be the first to step in and relieve them of a few customers. You'll say to yourself, 'I'm a small business. I have a small, flexible and effective team. Adaptability is my middle name. We're the can-do people!'
While your larger competitors need to look ahead a year or more, you'll change focus much more quickly. If you're a manufacturer, you have smaller production runs, so you can customize to suit the needs of particular customers. Customers can reach you much more easily than they can a CEO of a large corporation - you're responsive.
You look ahead with anticipation, not with anxiety. You think, 'Well, some of my products are nearing the end of their life cycle. What's the next big thing? How can I surprise and delight my loyal customers with something that they don't even realize they want?'
If you take this attitude, business will become more of a game than a chore. You'll feel freer to think creatively. And you'll try to communicate this attitude to your team. You'll do so with a frank and open management style, because honesty is the best way of helping people manage change. Fear of the unknown is one of the greatest impediments to change in the workplace.
You can also get people to feel positive about change by empowering your workforce. Reward people who have good and innovative ideas and let them have a say in implementing them. Offer both praise and monetary rewards for innovation.
Reassure people that change does not necessarily threaten jobs. If you run a small multi-skilled team, make clear that you value their adaptability and capacity to improvise, show initiative and get the job done. You won't be firing them to hire a team of narrow, pre-programmed specialists.
As Dr. Spencer Johnson advises in his #1 bestseller, Who Moved My Cheese? "Change means growth. We have the option in life to embrace change, to welcome it, to see it as an opportunity to learn, grow and improve our lot in life. The seasons change, the tides change, we change. Change is natural and good. It's all in the way you see it!"
So, stay alert and stay well-informed. Look out for the winds of change. Seek advice. We can conduct a Business Diagnostic and Performance Review with you to help scan the external environment specifically for your industry, as well as analyze the internal strengths and weaknesses of your business as part of the process. Yes, it may mean major change for your business, but the way to look at that change is to see it as the opportunity for growth and improvement.
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