Disability 5 – Change? Really? Where?

By now most of us have heard the parable of the boiled frog. He’s the poor fella that gets cooked. OK so they say that if you dunk a frog in a pot of water he’ll jump out quicker than he or I can say “ribbit”. Rightly so. Now if we were to place him in a nice comfy pot and turn up the heat he will enjoy his spa bath until he reverts to soup.

Apparently the frogs internal apparatus for sensing threats to survival is geared to sudden changes in his environment, not slow gradual changes. Sound familiar?

In business we live life in the fast lane. Everything is frantic, zooming by in a blinding flash. Giving us barely enough time to blink, let alone think, make a decision and keep moving.

What changes have occurred while we were caught up in watching the action but missing the plays? In business today there are some amazing strategies being employed to ensnare top positions by companies that were not even in the arena five years ago. How was IBM to know that by owning an operating system an industry would be born? How did Apple move from being a PC manufacturer to the hippest new tech toy creator? But where does it end? Is the PC redundant and the cell/combo unit do it all through some main server?

How did the Japanese auto manufacturers take over the US market and what about the Korean models? How did the big three slump so badly?

Interesting how the S&P is reorganized. Top southern retailer Winn-Dixie struggles in Chapter 11. Delta and Northwest file for bankruptcy? What does that mean for Southwest and other smaller airlines actually making some smidgeon of an income?

How do we avoid the fate of the frog? Slow down, smell the coffee, pay attention to subtle changes as well as the dramatic. It’s the subtle changes that will kill our business.

Graeme Nichol, principal, has worked on 4 continents gaining experience through Big Six consulting companies and boutique firms. Including; Business strategy, project management, change management, systems thinking, developing learning organizations, team development, productivity and quality improvement, and large scale ERP implementations.

At Arcturus Advisors (http://www.arcturusadvisors.com) we work with business leaders and their teams to get everybody on the same page pulling in the same direction to improve results. We get you to focus on a shared vision and agree on how you want to achieve it.

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