Out with the New and Back in with the Old
By Dr. Brian Simmons
Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash
What happens when an organization sets aside innovation and reverts back to old ways of doing things?
1. Customers go elsewhere for products and services
- Innovation drives competitive advantage. Without it, competitors who continue to innovate surpass other organizations in product quality, service delivery, and effectiveness.
2. Stagnation follows, and decline destroys the bottom line. If there is no margin there is no mission
- Processes, products, and services become outdated.
- This is especially apparent as talent leaves for more forward-thinking companies and opportunities. Look around. If the best people leading the most important growth areas of the organization are leaving, the organization is in trouble!
3. Culture is negatively impacted. Ineffective leaders believe they are leading their organizations back to the good old days, but those days are gone! Often, they cloak this in “mission true” talk, and while seeking to “fix” the mission ends up destroying it instead.
- A retreat from innovation can demoralize employees who value creativity and progress. People want to work for effective organizations and not the other kind!
- Risk aversion increases, and a culture of complacency takes root instead.
- Internal motivation to explore new ideas diminishes, crushing opportunities for growth in effectiveness.
4. Short-term Relief precedes Long-term Cost
- Reverting to familiar practices often reduces risk or cost temporarily, especially during a crisis or transition. But this is short lived, and as key people leave and customer numbers diminish a cycle of budget cuts, layoffs etc ensues. Ineffective leaders try desperately to cut their way to prosperity. This never works!
5. Ultimately the organization may cease to exist.
More effective organizations return greater value for customers resulting in displacing organizations stuck in legacy thinking. Effective steward leaders continually seek the purposes of the Master for the organizations entrusted to their care!
