Change Is The Opportunity That You've Been Looking For
I heard it said that most people hate change and based on the fact that humans are
basically creatures of habit, I believe it. But the ironic thing is that change can be the
door to great opportunities. If nothing ever changed, the small guy would never be
able to triumph over the big guy. Think about it. If nothing ever changed, Great
Britain would still rule America, blacks would still be slaves and the Yankees would
win the World Series ever year.
To put it in more business terms, change is what allowed Toyota to surpass General
Motors as the number one automaker in the world. Change is what allowed Walmart
to overtake K-Mart and Sears in the retail business. Change fostered the
environment that allowed Microsoft and Cisco Systems and Dell Computers to be
created. Without change, the same business models would always win the market
share wars.
Fortunately for us little guys, change is inevitable. Change is the door of
equalization that opens every day. But like most doors, no one else is going to carry
you over that threshold. It’s up to you to put one foot in front of the other and walk
up to the door knob, turn the handle and walk through the door.
Change is not the enemy. Change is your best friend. Every time something new in
the environment changes, it represents a challenge to the status quo and an
opportunity for new, creative thinkers. Those already in power must continue to fight
every day to retain their power. Every change is a threat to that power. On the other
hand, those of us who are outside the power broker circles, a change is a chance to
come up with a new idea that can take advantage of the change and perhaps catch
the big guys napping. Think of change as a reality based version of “King of the
Mountain”. There is only one mountain top, and one king. And just like change, the
king never knows from which side the next attack is coming from and he has to stay
ever vigilant in order to keep his spot on top of the mountain.
If you’ve ever heard of the saying “nothing fails like success”, what this means is that
success can cause you to become fat and lazy and to lose the edge that drove you to
succeed in the first place. You cannot succeed without a strong drive and will. But
having become successful, staying on top now becomes your next challenge. Some
people just become less motivated, which of course, makes them an easy target to
overcome. Yet others may not lose their motivation at all. Instead, even though they
are still as motivated as ever, they begin to lose ground because they are simply
enamored by the success of their original business model and quit looking for new
ways to stay on top. In other words, they fall in love with their original plan and fail to
factor in the changing environment. This exposes them to quicker, smaller, more
innovative thinkers who are hungry for their first taste of success.
But remember, change itself isn’t enough to bring you success in and of itself.
Change is only the opportunity. Education and creativity in large amounts are
required in order for you to recognize the opportunities brought on by change and
for you to rise above the common, into the rarified air of success.
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