What’s that smell? It’s a new smell, something we haven’t experienced before.
“Movement in a new direction helps you find new cheese.”
Have you become so engrossed in the day to day operations and the growth of your business, that you haven’t even popped your head outside your office to ask the question, “what if?” You’ve got an army assembled of sales people covering their territories, selling your gizmo and what you have to offer, but are you strategically thinking about where this is all going? Where are you going? What is the plan?
“The Quicker You Let Go of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Will Find New Cheese.”
The Cheese Is Going To Move. You just need to know the rules of cheese moving, and you need to surround yourself with people who can dream of new flavors of cheese.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall of an Apple strategy session.
“Hey, What if we created this super iTouch iPhone iPod, and just made it cooler!”
“Everyone would want one!” (Cha Ching!)
“Sprint customers could use it!” (Cha Ching!)
“People would have to upgrade their Mac Classics! (Cha Ching!)
14.8 Million IPad’s later ($7.4 Billion in iPad sales in less than a year!) …Oprah even gave 300 of them away on her favorite things!
I mean, who would have thought that giving your sales force an IPad might be a smarter way and more cost effective way ($499 instead of $1599) of doing business than a laptop that runs as slow as molasses. It’s got email, web, presentation capability, can project to a television set (using their $99 AppleTV), thus eliminating the need for an overhead projector at a client meeting, it’s wireless, and it can print now (there is an app for that). Had anyone besides my wife heard of an iPad before 2010?
What if? That $499 dollar gizmo just saved you $1,000!
However, you too can run your company like a crusader, don’t be afraid to ask and then explore what if, and look outside your office every so often to ask for the ten minute daydream with part of your management team, or trusted advisor. What if?
Learn the lessons from Spencer Johnson’s mice, and listen to the advice.
Change Happens – The mice keep moving the cheese
Anticipate Change – Get ready for the cheese to move
Monitor Change – Smell your cheese often enough so you know when it’s getting old
Adapt To Change Quickly – The quicker you let go of the old cheese, the sooner you can enjoy new cheese.
Change – Move with the cheese.
Enjoy Change – Savor the adventure and enjoy the taste of the new cheese.
Be Ready To Change And Enjoy It Again – The mice will keep moving the cheese, and you’ll know how to find it before everyone else, because you were never afraid to explore What If.
-Jennifer Mooney