You have probably heard of Albert Einstein oft-repeated definition of madness: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. While we can all agree there’s truth in what he said, knowing when to change course isn’t always as easy as we’d like.
Here’s the problem: The signs that a change of direction is needed are often confusing or subtle. Even if those signs are obvious, you may not be sure how to change business objectives to meet the demands. Opting for zigzag over zag can have significant impact on your business and have you scrambling to pick up the pieces.
To help you identify tipping points for change as you see them, and how to move forward with the initial analysis, I tapped into the brainpower of four successful business leaders. Everyone has had to recognize, acknowledge and accept change in unique ways. In doing so, they helped their business thrive by leaning on the power of change and rethinking some part of their business.
1. Tania Fiero, Chief Human Resources Officer, IES: Accept that the key catalyst for change may not be obvious
Personnel professional Tania Fiero is proud of her employer. For over 40 years, contingent workforce solutions provider, IES has built a strong, trusted brand. Not so long ago, sales and profits were headed in the wrong direction. Fiero was confused because the company had a great reputation, a “Best place to workaward winner, and never experience a lack of talented people who want to become employees. So why did innovation stall and why customers left?
What Fiero realized was shocking: the culture was perfect, but it was the wrong culture for what IES needed. After meeting with other executives, they used a culture assessment tool to look for culture-related gaps in opportunities. They found that everyone was preoccupied with a high concern for people, but an extremely low risk tolerance. The team began tackling the latter, adopting a risk-taking mentality backed by modern technology. Fiero explains: “We became a culture that was remote at first, taking on talent across the country. We brought in two new large corporate clients and our revenues have increased by 114%.”
Fiero’s experience shows that even if you know you need a change, you may have to dig deeper to find exactly where the change needs to be made. She recommends reading how other organizations bounced back to give you ideas about what might work for your business. She also notes that you need some patience: “Meaningful change takes time.”
2. Christine Alemany, CEO, TBGA: Get your outsourced functions in-house
If you do business long enough and your customers rely on you, they may ask you to help them by offering different services. That happened at branding and marketing consultancy TBGA. As Christine Alemany explains that new, in-demand services were outside the company’s wheelhouse. To meet the requests of their customers, TBGA made constant introductions to their partners. Eventually, they realized they were missing out on opportunities for expansion.
The answer was right in front of them: expanding their services to provide tactical support in addition to strategy. It was a bold move and it meant rethinking their menu of options for current and future customers. Either way, they believed they would make a profit as long as they were pragmatic about making changes.
Before that, they first looked at their competition. If the competition had failed at something they were considering doing, they made sure demand was high before moving on to that particular part. They were also honest about their capabilities and areas for improvement. “Look at your weaknesses and strengths,” Alemany says. “If the change doesn’t capitalize on your strengths, consider how to acquire those assets externally.” Finally, they talked to customers before setting everything in stone. That way they could create what the market wanted instead of what it didn’t need.
3. Seth Casden, Founder and CEO, Hlogenix: Get the timing right when switching strategies
When you bring a new concept to the market, you are often in a position to mainly work on the sell-in. During the sales phase, you focus on getting other companies to work with you. In front of Seth Casden, the sale period for Holenix’s flagship material science product, CELLIANT®, was very significant. However, as the company gained traction on brand partners, they knew they needed to focus less on resale and more on resale.
Casden explains: “We needed more consumer awareness about the benefits of our technology. We had to figure out how best to do that. What would have the most impact on the consumers of our current and future partners?” After much deliberation, Casden and his colleagues decided to pursue a series of independently validated claims and FDA determinations. By focusing on validation, Holenix was able to grow bigger by moving from a sell-in to a sell-through mindset.
What does Casden advise if your organization is in times of change? “Don’t take half measures. Go all in.” While you want to structure your actions on information, you cannot be stubborn or inflexible. By tweaking and adapting, you can bring a necessary readjustment to life and benefit your business in the long run.
4. Scott Webb, CEO, Avionos: Disrupt by diversifying your portfolio
by 2019, Scott Webb‘s marketing and commerce consultancy has been around for five years and has grown every year. The disciplined, fully integrated domestic delivery model delivered efficiencies that attracted customers. Still, Webb predicted that in order to stay one step ahead of the rest, he and his leadership team would have to decide whether to continue on the course that had made them successful, or if they would disrupt.
After quite a bit of discussion, they opted for disruption in the form of an off-shore supply opportunity to diversify their cost structure. None of the team had built an off-shore practice from scratch, so they dived into uncharted territory. However, by acting quickly and decisively with the help of others who had “been there and done that,” Webb and his team were able to navigate the realities of moving off-shore.
Based on his experience, Webb advises all leaders to: getting comfortable with change. “It’s easy to think of big moments as a binary – before or after, right or wrong. The truth is that one critical change in one direction often triggers another, and then another. Instead of trying to new direction after making a course correction, consider also emphasizing the possibility of changing the overarching target.”
Sooner or later you will come to a crossroads that will require you to reset the trajectory of your journey. Consider the insights of those who have been in your shoes and use the knowledge of their experiences to guide the next change of course in your business. Don’t be put off by the prospect of change. Instead, think of it as one of the rites of passage on the way to the top.
