Time is an arrow
By Dennis Price
Imagine you are in a desolate place on an Antarctic wasteland.
It is eerily silent.
You are standing on the edge of a lake looking across the lake to an iceberg - huge slabs of ice perched precariously on the edge of the lake – just like a David Attenborough special on climate change.
Then there is a rumble that grows louder and louder culminating in an enormous crunch of thunder as a large slab of ice breaks off the precipice and crashes into the lake with plumes of ice and water shooting into the sky.
Then the silence returns.
Can you imagine that scenario happening in reverse?
Of course not.
Because time is an arrow.
Change cannot be undone.
Change is constant.
Right now we are living though change, just like every other person who came before us. And as every other person who will come after us.
• How hard are we fighting to keep things the same?
• How much time do we spend protecting what we have?
• How much effort do we put into perfecting the things that made us successful?
• How much time do we spend whingeing about change – or lobbying the government wind back the clock or to protect us from change?
• How much do we rely on your past experiences to get us through?
As the ‘The Boss’ sang so famously:
“Glory days well they'll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days”
I think I can safely say that yesterday is gone and will never be again.
And that means that unless we are gearing ourselves and our organisations up with new skills, new strategies, new products, and new markets – and consistently - then we are doomed to join the slab of ice that crashes into oblivion.
The most important thing you can do is to systematise your capacity to change. And that’s why we think organic (social) learning is one critical 21st century imperative. Fostering creativity and innovation is important too (although this can be enabled with social learning).
But the most important prerequisite for future success is willingness to change.
• How do you (honestly) rate yourself?
• What are you doing about it?
• Do you agree or disagree?
Have fun
Dennis
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Ed - Dennis price is a contributor to Inside Retail, one of the premier online retail news sites in Australia and the source of some of the news you see on this website. Dennis is a thinker and motivator and regularly posts articles that get you thinking. We wrote specifically to Dennis for permission to reproduce this article as it seemed particularly relevant to the current dilemma of general merchandise traders.
The thrust of the article is to embrace change. We are equally mindful that stepping into the unknown has risks and needs careful consideration. Let’s hope that QVM traders, management and the Lord Mayor get the balance right.