^Innovation Every Day Is a Great Day for Change

It’s a new day in a New Year. I guess if you really looked at this statement, every day is a new day in a New Year but many of us only look at it that way on January 1st. Is that often enough?

New years are usually associated with change but this is not the case for the millions of people who get up and go to work every day. Each of these people has a job that they go to and they have tasks that need to be accomplished. The problem is that many of these jobs or tasks seem to be the same every day for a long period of time. Many people find comfort in knowing that they’ll be doing the same task in the same way they’ve done it before. The problem is that their competitors find this comforting as well.

What I mean is that if your competitors can count on you, or your company, to do things the same way every day then it’s very easy for them to figure out how to get the competitive edge. This means you and your company are predictable, you’re not prone to change easily, and competitors know this. This might sound as if they’re out to get you, but in reality it’s not personal, just business. What they really want is to fight for your customers business. They’re not here to beat you up personally but they’re tasked to grow their own companies and need to do it any way they can.

So by being predictable you’re exposing your company to potential vulnerability. This isn’t to say that the way your company does things makes you vulnerable, but there’s a large probability that there’s a better way of doing things that could make you less vulnerable.

Companies spend way too much time in their comfort zone. It’s easy and it doesn’t require a lot of extra effort. Change requires extra work and effort. I haven’t found too many people or organizations that volunteer to do extra work. I do, however, believe that change is what makes companies more successful. Change can be implemented in various ways;

• Spending a portion of the work week or work month examining the way you do things and making improvements.
• Examining what competitors are doing and adopting proven practices.
• Talking to suppliers and industry professionals who can help improve processes, or the way tasks are implemented, and making those adjustments.

These are not the only ways of creating change and strengthening your competitive edge, but it will get things rolling. I’m sure when you start looking at the way that you do a task or your processes, you’ll find room for improvement. And if you’re constantly improving, or changing, your competition will never have the chance to catch up…simply because they know they’ll always be one step behind. And they will move on to another company that’s more predictable.

Every day is a great day for change, so don’t limit yourself to January 1st. What changes could you make today that would make your company less predictable and more profitable?

I’m looking forward to your thoughts and comments.

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