The last decade of business has been a rapidly changing chronology of growth, struggle, confusion, and depression.
The cornerstones of enterprise stability and growth have crumbled into an elusively expensive hodgepodge of misguided effort and bi-polar strategy.
The business of growth has changed.
Fundamentally, sales and marketing behaviors are no longer the same. If you look closely enough you’ll notice three specific transitions happening all at the same time. Overlapping transitions in technology, economics, and social dynamics are together driving this decade-long business fragmentation.
Technology changes have made accurate access to complex answers easier than ever. Data systems are faster and more people have smarter phones with faster access to the Internet. What used to make us wonder is now solved by an audio search in Google. We say what we want to know and we get the results back. We don’t even need to spell it out.
Social changes make it easier than ever to build and maintain relationships that matter. External boundaries such as time zones, location, and means of communication have rapidly evolved. As well, you can share pictures, video, quick thoughts, or even your current location with thousands of people just a few clicks of a button.
Economic changes have dramatically changed our understanding of value. The disparity between financial, educational, and political positions have reached a boiling point everywhere across the globe. Both first and third world countries alike have maintained and amplified a conversation around inequality – an exploration around the idea of fairness.
These changes are here to stay.
These new ideas are here to stay. You can talk all you want about the “good old days”, but don’t fool yourself. The old way of doing business just doesn’t work anymore.
Which is why businesses are struggling right now. The experts are just telling us to do more of what used to work. Executives are cautious about trying something new. Together, these ideologies drive a vicious cycle of under-performance.
Let’s be candid, it’s frustrating to not know what to do. To not know how to drive business growth.
But the answer isn’t as far away as you might think.
There are four philosophies that can help you take your existing methodologies and strategies and adapt them for the changes that are happening in the socio-economics around you.
- Extreme Behavior – Toppling a dictator is hard work. It takes sacrifice, intention, and raw emotion. The same extreme behavior that can overthrow government can help you overthrow the competitors in your industry. But doing “a little more” isn’t enough. You need something a heck of a lot more.
- Disciplined Activity — The tactics they used to work after two or three try now take 10 to 15 attempts. Sticking to it has never been more important than right now. In a society where access to answers is just a smart phone away, you have to be tireless in your execution and consistent in how you change perceptions around you.
- Giving Mindset — Kindness is so rare that when we see it, it moves us at a deeply personal level that is empowering. It is deeply moving. Giving value beyond what people pay is a way to reposition the confusing marketing in your industry. It creates an experience your customers won’t forget.
- Y(h)uman Strategy — Information isn’t what is important. People are much more than names and numbers on a spreadsheet. To be truly effective, you have to pull at the human heart strings. You have to be emotionally intelligent. You have to be able to read between the lines.
The rules have changed.
Business is different.
You can try to fight it and continue to fail or you can invest in others and take advantage of an environment that is ready for heroes.
Confusion is a choice. Choose to be amazing.
Be EDGY.
