{"id":405,"date":"2014-10-15T10:00:01","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T10:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/?p=405"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:20:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:20:24","slug":"there-is-nothing-permanent-except-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/there-is-nothing-permanent-except-change\/","title":{"rendered":"“There is nothing permanent except change.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve talked here previously about change (see https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/if-there-is-no-change-theres-no-need-to-manage\/<\/a>) . . . about the inevitability of it and about the need to adapt to it.\u00a0 But since our previous talk about change, guess what\u2019s happened!\u00a0 Yep, everything has changed . . . our markets, our competitors, our banking relationships, our people, the technologies we use . . . all of it.\u00a0 In fact, it would be tough to find anything in our businesses that is the same as it was a few years ago.\u00a0 So it seems appropriate to revisit that topic.\u00a0 If you agree, please continue reading below.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing permanent except change.\u201d<\/strong>
\n–Heraclitus<\/em><\/p>\n

Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher who lived some 2500 years ago, was apparently unfamiliar with death and taxes.\u00a0 But he does demonstrate that change has been with us for a very long time, and is unlikely to fade anytime soon.\u00a0 Admiral Hyman Rickover, father of the U.S. Navy\u2019s nuclear submarine program, once said, \u201cAt any moment during a 24 hour day, only one third of the people in the world are asleep.\u00a0 The other two-thirds are awake and creating problems.\u201d\u00a0 A man of fewer words might have simply said, \u201cChange is inevitable.<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 Of course, he was looking at change from a military perspective, but the perspective from a business point of view is no different.<\/p>\n

The problem is, the most difficult changes we have to face are those triggered by outside forces we can\u2019t control such as new government rules or regulations, new disruptive technologies, or a new competitive landscape.\u00a0 Of course, there are internally generated changes too, such as opening new markets or introducing new products or services.\u00a0 But those are changes over which we have some degree of control.\u00a0 We can manage them.\u00a0 We can decide when, where, and how many resources to invest.\u00a0 Outside changes are different.\u00a0 They are thrust upon us and all we can do is react.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not fair, is it?\u00a0 I mean, we just got our apple cart all loaded up with apples and we were rolling down the road, when WHAM!\u00a0 Somebody knocks it over.\u00a0 Apples are scattered all over the place.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not like it was us, not like it was our fault.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t knock it over.\u00a0 It was one of those other guys . . . one of those guys someplace out there.\u00a0 No, definitely not fair.\u00a0 If this was the NFL, the refs would be calling a penalty on that other guy.<\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t the NFL, and the only penalties involved are assessed by the marketplace against those players who fail to respond to change quickly and appropriately.<\/p>\n

So what do we do about change, particularly when it\u2019s generated by outside forces beyond our control?<\/p>\n

First and foremost, stay vigilant.\u00a0 Keep abreast of trends in your industry and your marketplace.\u00a0 The further out on the horizon you can spot changes coming, the more time you\u2019ll have to prepare.<\/strong>\u00a0 And don\u2019t watch out for only yourself.\u00a0 Changes that directly impact your vendors and suppliers will quickly find their way to your door too.\u00a0 Likewise for your customers.\u00a0 And don\u2019t forget your customer\u2019s customer and your customer\u2019s suppliers.\u00a0 Even though they are two steps removed from you, changes to their businesses will set off a chain reaction that will eventually reach you.\u00a0 So you really need to keep an eye on everybody who can directly or indirectly impact your business<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Second, as a marketing professor of mine used to say, \u201cLove the market, don\u2019t fight it.\u201d\u00a0 When changes come along, we may be tempted to resist them in an attempt to preserve as much of our old business model as possible.\u00a0 That\u2019s a fool\u2019s errand.\u00a0 General Electric isn\u2019t big enough to buck a market trend, so neither are you.\u00a0 You will be better served by trying to see the big picture of where the market is going, and then figuring out how to get on board with it.<\/p>\n

Finally, whenever there is great change, there is great opportunity.\u00a0 Look for it.\u00a0 Be creative.\u00a0 Be the guy who, upon seeing a pile of manure, starts looking for the pony.<\/p>\n

Because things aren\u2019t the way they were, things can\u2019t stay the way they are.\u00a0 As Heraclitus tells us, change is a permanent fixture of life, so you may as well embrace it.\u00a0 Build a competitive advantage<\/a> out of your ability to deal with change more efficiently and more effectively than anyone else.\u00a0 The alternative is to let the world change without you which, let\u2019s face it, is a prescription for going out of business.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve talked here previously about change (see https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/if-there-is-no-change-theres-no-need-to-manage\/) . . . about the inevitability of it and about the need to adapt to it.\u00a0 But since our previous talk about change, guess what\u2019s happened!\u00a0 Yep, everything has changed . . . our markets, our competitors, our banking relationships, our people, the technologies we use .<\/p>\n

Read More\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,37,23],"tags":[67,68],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1166,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions\/1166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}