Some time ago, one of
my clients challenged me to record the 20 most important lessons I’ve learned in my 30 years of consulting experience. After a great deal of reflection, I eventually came up with 25. This is one. Fixing things isn’t always the best idea. In our rapidly changing world, instead of restoring the status quo, we need to build for the future.
Here’s a couple of examples. Let’s say you’ve determined that a piece of software is becoming unreliable. You could get the vendor to upgrade it, or you could look at the applications for which you use the software, and search for something that will serve you for the next few years. Instead of fixing what you have and returning everything to the status quo, you focus on gearing up for the future.
Or, one of your salespeople has left for greener pastures. You could, in a knee jerk reaction, begin to search for someone to replace him/her, or you could take a deep dive into the dynamics of the customers, the territory, your future products, and determine that maybe a replacement outside salesperson is not the necessarily the best move. Instead you invest in some additional software, and
expand the role of one of your inside salespeople.
In both cases, while you were tempted to just fix the situation and return everything to the status quo, instead you took advantage of the need for change by looking to the future and putting in place a solution that is designed for the future, not the
past.
