A business and the human body share an important trait. Over time, they both can become very specialized in their abilities. A chronically complacent couch potato might be on the 12,000 calories a day Michael Phelps diet, but he isn’t about to compete in the 200 m freestyle and live to tell about it. Even the hardest working power lifter may not be able twist himself into the most basic of yoga positions without busting a gut. Likewise, your business may require more endurance, strength, or flexibility in order to change course. But after years of neglect or long periods of intensely focused endeavors, any change will meet with resistance. The good news is that you can take steps to ensure that change doesn’t harm you or your business.
If your company has had a good run, hang onto the core that works and use it as your platform for change. There’s a lot at stake, including all those things that you’ve tried to ratchet up over the years — capabilities, reputation, relationships, position, and money. For that reason, change as little as possible in order to achieve your goals. The connections between people, ideas, and systems get stronger over time. If you try to change everything at once, you may end up with a tangled web of issues, bound together by the Super Glue of entrenched staff who will resist your sense of urgency at every level.
If you’ve got multiple, interrelated problems, it may take as long to sort them out as it did to create them (and the links between them). Go for the gold, but take time to get — and keep — your company in great shape. Otherwise, you could end up sitting out the most important part of the game on injured reserve.
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