Change--Miley Ray Cyrus Style

OK, let me just start by saying that if you're about to read this post thinking I'm going to talk in-depth about Miley Ray Cyrus*--as the title may suggest--you're about to be disappointed.  But, if that's what you're most interested in, feel free so skip to the end for why Miley and "change" are remotely related.

Hey!  You didn't skip to Miley!  Congratulations on your superb musical tastes.  Let's talk about "change" in general, and why it's important.  To paraphrase 'ol Shumpie (aka Joseph Alois Schumpeter), change is the defining fact of capitalism.  As he and others have laid out, the inherent nature of economies is to change, shift and morph.  As a result, the way resources are used today to create value (say, taking the inputs to make a cassette tape) will likely not be what's valued tomorrow.  Basically, a process of destroying the old in favor of the new will happen whether we like it or not.  

Your time is limited, Cyrus....

His concept of creative destruction--if you buy into it--would suggest that you and I should have a high regard for the ability to initiate, put up with, and encourage "change" in our day-to-day business.  After all, if we're not the ones urging creative destruction relative to our projects, products and services, then we will be 'creatively destroyed' as others outpace our innovations.

But what about Miley?  You're just going to have to hold on a bit longer....  The idea of "change"--if taken alone--can be dangerous, I would argue.  If you ch-ch-change without nuh-nuh-knowledge sharing, for example, others might get so confused they won't be able to help.  Like many aspects of MBM, solely focusing on one element can be harmful.  

So, I pose this question to you: what elements of MBM bolster and support change, and what elements are in tension with it?  For example:

• Bolsters: assuming we need to change periodically, sharing KNOWLEDGE is important to make sure we are all on the same page of what has changed and why.
• Tension: visions have to change from time to time, but if you change your department's vision every day productivity would likely decrease. 

What else?

"That's fine and all," you think, "but what about Miley?"  OK.  In one of the more interesting consulting jobs I've done recently--in which a team asked a few of us to explore with them the Guiding Principles in depth--we discussed the idea of "change" for a bit.  Shannon, my partner, suggested that we play Cyrus' song about moving to a new town (Party in the USA) to lighten the mood and provide a funny, positive example of this principle.  

The result was about about 10% funny and 90% makes-Andy-uncomfortable....  

*p.s. KAP class: it is Miley RAY Cyrus...  ;-)

Comments

[David McGinnis]

how bout this: when do customer relationships need to change? Some customers want you to continue to grow and meet more and more needs, other ones truly do want to treat you more like a steadfast provider.

So depending on the situation, change can either bolster or be in tension with the desired state.

I suppose that's why it's so important to know our customers, throughout the organization and the traditional customers too.

P.S. i love the term "creative destruction", because I can't help but think of destroying things creatively. and that makes me smile. :)

[Andy Gillette]

Nice point on Customer Focus, David.

Perhaps some marginal analysis of each customer or customer segments would indicate which relationships are beneficial to invest more or less in (easier typed than done...).