"If it's not broke, don't fix it."
That's how the old adage goes, and in many cases, I couldn't agree more. But in business, I'd like to go on record with my objection. If you think I'm wrong, just ask our old friends at Blockbuster, Toys-R-Us, and Blackberry:
Blockbuster used to be a magical place my grandmother would take me to rent the newest movies and N64 games. What a day that was! Seemed like that was a business model that would never go out of style...whoops! Among other problems, Blockbuster failed to adapt to changing technology and consumer desires. They even passed on an early opportunity to buy Netflix!
Once-upon-a-time, Toys-R-Us was the mega-fun box-store version of a trip to Disney World. But they also failed to take seriously the threat of a world full of online competitors like Amazon. Sure, parents could wrestle all of their children into a car to drive 40 minutes through traffic, followed by the frantic shuffle of the little ones through a parking lot full of other distracted-parent-drivers, to then reach the inside of the store with so much distraction that it would be impossible to keep all of your kids from running off in their own desired direction. Or, you could just click "Buy Now" from the comfort of your couch (probably for a cheaper price, financially and emotionally). Anyway, Toys-R-Us finally came to grip with reality...
Then you have the case of Blackberry. I remember back when the iPhone started gaining mass popularity, and one of my friends laughed at it and told me how much better his Blackberry was. Good call, friend. While Blackberry enjoyed a long moment in the sun, their hardware and software innovation lagged, and they were never able to catch back up to the wonderchild of Steve Jobs and Jony Ive. However, this is where the story takes a twist. Check out what Blackberry's website says now:
As a company, Blackberry has taken the brave step of killing its flagship product (dubbed, "the CrackBerry") and completely reinventing itself in light of today's environment. It is a radical move, but it may be the very thing that has kept them in business!
"If it's not broke, don't fix it" may be a valuable mantra is some instances, but in the fast-paced world of evolving technology and business, "broke" things aren't the only ones that need attention and innovation.
So instead of focusing so heavily on maintaining the status quo and "doing things how they've always been done," we need to shift our focus to think about how to take advantage of new opportunities and practices to continue to grow and connect with more and more people.
Businesses didn't use to care about websites. Now if you don't have a good one, potential new customers don't trust you.
Social media isn't just for the kids. A strong social media presence can help create loyal fans for your brand.
Employees use to just need to "suck it up" and do their jobs. But as we transition from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge economy, it is more important than ever to invest in your people and keep them around. When your team members are your biggest assets, it costs you huge amounts of money every time one of them leaves you for a competitor.
One of the best ways to invest in your team is to grow their emotional intelligence. Increasing EQ can help your team improve communication, create a healthier culture, reduce conflict, create unity and teamwork, and build better experiences for your customers. Evrgrn offers team trainings and leadership coaching to help your team grow and thrive in every season. Check it out here!