Most people have great ideas and most love to talk about those ideas: how things could be, how to get new clients and customers. These discussions go on every day in companies throughout the world. We talk about it, try to sell it, we argue about it, and we may even get angry with one another over it, but only a precious few really do anything about it.
It seems that we have a built in ant-action mechanism. (Oh we don’t call it that, and even resist acknowledging the point.) Most reference it as: being careful, carefully considering all the options, not wasting your time, not squandering resources. People are very good at finding plausible reasons not to take action and to justify their inaction. And besides, you may fail and that surely is bad! It could even damage your career.
Well then, you must be working in a reasonably unsuccessful company. In today’s business environment where the Internet has leveled the competitive playing field – caution is no longer rewarded. Bureaucracy is no longer effective. Management by compliance is mediocrity.
We are clearly not advocating anarchy. Far from it. We are advocating taking the initiative, taking small steps, experimenting. And building this into your brand and your company culture. The competitive business landscape has changed. Your choice now is whether you want to be in or out.
We are often asked: How can we differentiate ourselves? We differentiate ourselves by understanding the market, understanding what the market needs that’s not currently provided and we do something about it. And we do this by experimenting, talking to clients and prospects, trying new ideas, failing, trying more ideas until we find one that sticks.
Success is about taking action. It’s not about waiting until there is virtually no perceived risk and then going all out. That is a recipe for failure, because by the time you do that, the market will have moved on.
In this week’s Quick Tips we will provide examples on taking initiative through small actions to create or continue your success.
Copyright 2011 Kubica LaForest Consulting
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