There is no doubt that people both at work and outside the workplace are getting out of their comfort zones and doing things a lot differently.
Simple things like a trip to the grocery store now require the prep and planning of a NASA engineer.
Think about all of the changes you have personally made over the past 2 months? Where you work, how you work, if you are working at all. How you manage yourself, your teams, your business.
One thing for certain is that “The Way We’ve Always Done It” isn’t a phrase that anyone seems to use much these days. And in some cases, this may actually be a good thing.
Can you remember all the times that you or someone you know resisted embracing or utilizing new technology? Now my 81-year old father has become hooked on video conferencing with the rest of our family. It’s nice to have him included on our weekly chats, but more importantly it’s gotten him comfortable with the tools that can keep him connected to his family and his grand kids.
Last week I spoke with home construction and real estate agents about some of the changes they’ve been forced to make. Everything from video walk-throughs, showings, site-unseen offers, home warranty videos, and virtual closings have allowed the industry to keep moving.
These are innovations that were talked about for many years- truly paperless closings and getting policies documented on video tutorials are no longer just great ideas that save time, money and the planet- they are now must haves if you want to stay in business.
The idea that we can’t create flexible schedules that allow our teams to work part time or full time out of their homes has certainly been tossed aside for the moment. Some industries are considering making this the new standard for their employees.
How about the argument that school-teachers and college professors can’t do some form of teaching in a virtual format? Like it or not this assumption is going to be challenged forever more.
While nothing can ever truly replace a live experience for teaching or training, virtual work can help enhance or even augment current learning curriculums. When done correctly virtual learning platforms benefit those that wish to move at a faster pace or wish to go deeper into the material. These enhanced formats can also provide much needed solutions to support those that need more time to grasp the skill or concept.
Many organizations are now testing the capabilities of valuable technology and software that they’ve already purchased but have under-utilized for years because no one in the company has taken the time to truly understand how it works or how to train others to use it. Wow, what a concept? Let’s actually use what we’ve already paid for instead of simply buying something else.
So much of what we are now forced to do every day has been resisted by so many for so long that new ideas on how we can adapt are coming to the forefront on a daily basis.
Ben Franklin once said- “Success breeds complacency, adversity breeds brilliance” and many leaders of the companies I’ve spoken with are learning this brilliance with the teams and technology that they currently have in place.
Once we get over the barrier of “The way we’ve always done it” new possibilities can present themselves in ways that we’ve never even imagined before. But don’t kid yourself. Once we get past this, there will be massive gravitational forces pulling us back to the “old way of doing things.” Which again may not be a bad thing either- let’s face it, who isn’t looking forward to a large gathering of friends and colleagues being in the same physical location together to share stories and ideas or just to have a laugh?
We aren’t designed for radical, seismic changes in behaviors, but rather slow and gradual evolution to a new process. Don’t be surprised once this is over if you start hearing or even saying the most dangerous words that any organization can ever start using… “That’s the way we’ve always done it”-Make sure that you are prepared to challenge whether or not that way is the best way.
Yes, Change is uncomfortable and that’s a good thing because as we all know, you won’t ever learn anything inside your comfort zone.
Cheers to the discomfort, your growth and most of all your health
One Quarter Turn at a Time
Thoughts for the week:
What is now proved was once only imagined. -William Blake
You can’t solve a problem on the same level that is was created. You have to rise above it to the next level. – Albert Einstein
If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old. -Peter Drucker
Innovation is seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. -Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgy
Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow. -William Pollard
If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong. -Charles Kettering
Looking forward to our next connection
Coach Tim
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