When new exciting opportunities come along that could catapult your business forward, you may believe you have more time and no immediate urgency. Often, no action is taken, not even to study the business potential for the opportunity. Why? You have to think outside of your comfort zone to evaluate the opportunity. You know change would be required and everything is running smoothly at the moment, thank you.

When potentially difficult challenges loom, you may also believe you have plenty of time and no urgency. At first, the challenge seems small. You decide you can deal with it later. Again, you do not even evaluate the potential business impact of the challenge if left unchecked. Let it wait. Or, you may perceive the challenge to be gigantic and requiring a massive response including significant changes and disruption to your business. Too scary?

What happens if we let these decisions go? Eventually opportunities disappear and either we lose out completely, or our ability to participate is dramatically reduced and at higher cost. At best, your overall business stays on its current steady course. That is, of course, if challenges you have not dealt with are not dragging your business in the opposite direction.

Challenges threaten to hurt business with higher costs, lower sales, or drain resources that reduce productivity or your ability to deal with opportunities effectively. What happens if you ignore them when they emerge? They become crises. Even if you are aware of the need to make a decision, the longer you delay the greater the pressure to make a decision. When the issue reaches a crisis point, the odds of making a good, informed, decision at that point are extremely low. Most people do not manage crises well due to lack of planning or a proactive approach to dealing with challenges that created the crisis in the first place. Then all of the knee jerk reactions and blame games start as the entire business is disrupted by the crisis.

Look back to 1829, when Martin Van Buren, Governor of the great state of New York, wrote a letter to US President Andrew Jackson. Van Buren was concerned that progressive change would result in a different future: “President Jackson, the canal system of this country is being threatened by the spread of railroads. We must preserve the canals for the following reasons:
1.      If canal boats are supplanted by railroads, serious unemployment will result. …
2.      Boat builders would suffer, whip and harness makers would be left destitute. …
3.      Canal boats are absolutely essential to the defense of the United States.”

He continued on to say that people were never intended to travel at such breakneck speeds with engines roaring and scaring mothers and children and flying across the country - at 15 mph!

Imagine if Van Buren could foresee the potential for New York as a major hub for imports and exports into and out of the US and Europe. A great port city where goods will be transported rapidly across the entire country. Providing work for thousands of people in shipyards, train depots, import/export trading, financing, and so on.

Fortunately, that change happened. Certainly, it was a disruptive crisis to the people and businesses supported by the canal system. However, the ultimate benefit to the US economy was staggering. Even those venerable and threatening high-speed trains have since largely been supplanted by the trucking and airline industry. Progress requires change – even dramatic change.

Why is it that we can see the changes coming from the very germ of a great idea, or from the first prick from a burr hinting of problems on the horizon, and all too often we do nothing? For each change, there is an optimal time for making decisions to pursue the opportunity or tackle the challenge.

Perhaps the biggest issue to overcome in dealing with change is the fear of failure. W. Edwards Deming said, “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” Is it not ironic that we desire to be successful and if we’re diligent, we may even develop long-term goals and business plans for charting our road map forward. How many times have the assumptions you made about the market, competitors, customers, technology, or government regulations or the economy remained exactly as you predicted and very accurate from year to year?

The truth is these factors change all the time. If we are to succeed, we need to be aware of them and we need to make changes and adjustments in our own business in order to achieve our goals. We can assume then that if we do not change we will inevitably assure the failure of our businesses, regardless of how comfortable we may be at the present time. Perhaps the real concern for many is the perception that they were the creators of the change that appears to be hurting the business. Whereas leaving things alone will let external circumstances drive the conclusion.

Good leaders learn to make a habit of anticipating opportunities and challenges and prepare to deal with or exploit them. The earlier they become aware of an impending impacting event, the sooner they can analyze, plan, decide, and implement changes that will keep their businesses performing at their best.

Someone once said, “If we don’t change, we’ll end up where we’re going.” Do you know where that will be? The constant you need to hold on to is your mission, or purpose for your business, and your values, or the principles for guiding the behavior of your people. You can enjoy any opportunity or meet any challenge with your entire organization intact and rallying around the change if you stay focused on your mission and values. Otherwise, you may end up somewhere that may not match your expectations and with no more options. Change will happen – make it good.


Patrick Smyth is a leadership navigator and advisor to leaders of high growth and emerging businesses. He creates compelling visions and comprehensive strategic plans, and coaches on effective leadership and management practices. He is a recognized speaker, trainer, coach, and international business strategist and author of the book Elephant Walk: Balancing Business Performance and Brand Strategy for the Long Haul.
http://www.innovationhabitude.com