Change Is HARD — Here’s WHY

Think about it…

What was the last major life decision you made? If you’re like most people, it’s probably been a while and they don’t happen often.

You’re about to read why change is hard and how you have a big decision to make as a business leader for your manufacturing, distribution, or retail business in the building materials or home improvement space.

Resistance to change is biology at work

Humans are fundamentally resistant to change unless there is a major shock to their system. The explanation pertains to human physiology and is deeply scientific.

If you’re alive today, your body and mind are telling you there’s no need to adapt, evolve, or change. What you’ve done in the past has proven to be enough — that’s why you’re here now. It’s a reinforcing loop.

And therein lies the challenge and why you don’t change — you don’t change because there is no pressing need. There is no existential threat or pressure to force a change to take place.

Threats in business are unlike natural threats

In the business world, however, threats aren’t like natural threats. Technological changes offer unique and even more challenging problems — they’re hard to predict, there can be little or no precedent to assess, and when the impacts start to materialize, the stakes can quickly become evolve-or-die.

The positive and negative impacts of technological change cannot be understated.

Because technology evolves so rapidly, it often appears to be nothing until it’s overwhelmingly obvious and sometimes too late.

As a leader, you must decide now how you will act — will you be proactive or reactive?

Perspective matters
If you look at a speeding object head-on that’s off in the distance, it appears to be at a standstill. It appears to be at a standstill until it’s sped past you at a blinding speed.

Take eCommerce for example, the threat appears to be so far off in the distance and only affecting other industries and types of companies, like consumer packaged goods, entertainment, or automotive and they appear to have very few similarities to manufacturers and distributors of building materials and home improvement products.

The uninitiated would be given a pass, but as an executive with influence, power, and authority, you could not be more mistaken. In fact, your job may be at stake if you fail to adapt.

Fortunately, you have the luxury of deciding how to act.

Change now or forever lose your piece

Evolve or die.

Those industries that are off in the distance and unlike yours also had executives who said: “it doesn’t apply to us.”

Unprepared CEOs could find a Board asking tough questions about the future. Execs reporting to CEOs could face an impatient boss whose demands for change seemly comes out of the blue.

Some execs will be forced out and replaced with more forward-thinking executives, others will “retire early” to save face, and some will hang on for dear life in a reactionary effort to cobble together a digital strategy to remain relevant.

Make no mistake, eCommerce and technology have been long-time trends. Those who have ignored the trends have perished or seen their market share fall dramatically.

Since growth and profits have been good for a long time for your business and since competitors don’t appear to be doing much, there’s been little accountability. Very few people will ask: “how much longer will it be ‘business as usual?’”

“Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.” — Andrew Grove (Co-founder and ex-CEO, Intel Corporation)

What you’ve done in the past does not guarantee your future success. Success favors those who can continuously adapt and evolve.

Whoever has the gold makes the rules

Customers make the rules and businesses follow suit — if they want to remain relevant. If your business can’t adapt, another one will.

It doesn’t matter to a customer how hard it is for your business to change. It’s not their problem. Nevertheless, it is your responsibility to adapt and change — if you want to remain relevant and competitive.

If you don’t believe this, simply think of a company or competitor that has an inferior product but better marketing. They’re better than you at getting customers’ attention and money.

If your competitors have a strong online presence, you should be especially worried. You should be worried because they are playing a completely different game than you. They have laser-guided drones at what you think is a conventional knife fight — you’re completely outmatched and have completely misread the entire dynamic.

You have a decision to make

You can be proactive or reactive. The market doesn’t care, but your shareholders, boss(es), colleagues, and future employers will care.

No decision is a de facto decision. You can remain complacent with the status quo and ride it out for as long as it will permit you to, or you can embrace reality and make the needed changes to position yourself and your business for success.

A great Board of Directors and capable CEO can help dramatically. They can set a strategic North Star to align everyone’s efforts, overcommunicate why, and ensure the right team is in place to execute.

The few forward-thinking execs will see the challenge as an opportunity. It is an opportunity to modernize your business, to catch up to the market leader, to stay relevant to partners and customers, and to lead your teams through a transition that will not only benefit your business’ bottom line but the lives and careers of all the people you lead. Lead by example, don’t be paralyzed by fear.

Realize that you have support

We see digital transformation all the time. We see the winning strategies, the losing strategies, and have a playbook that works.

We can help you solve the toughest problems and give you peace of mind that you’ll be in a position to succeed as times change (which is now).