Here is a great question. How much change is appropriate? I mean, if you’re a business, you want to grow…and it seems you can’t grow without changing something. Not to mention that if you want to stay competitive, you must not allow yourself to become stagnant. Sometimes you can’t even help but grow…demand almost forces you to (not a bad problem to have sometimes). And if you don’t change, someone else will…and then you’re hosed. Or what can be even worse is when someone requires or forces you to change. You could be perfectly happy where you are, and then to stay in business you might have to abide by this new law, or regulation. It can apply to so many things also. How much should a business change, how much should I change for this significant other that I really like, I can’t get a date so should I change my style, and so on.
Recently I have seen a couple of banks and people being both forced and also deciding to change or grow (I’m not going to tell you which one(s) are being forced!) in new directions. They want to grow but do not quite have the structure, the personnel, or lets say materials. Everything starts happening so fast, and then one person is doing 2, 3, or even 4 things or even 2,3, or 4 things are all changing at once. Then you look back and don’t even see a way back or don’t even recognize what you were. But then it’s so hard to settle and maintain because most successful people are always striving for more. Don’t get me wrong, I love change. It is needed and happily anticipated in my book. So I don’t even know if there is an answer – I know there are theories and opinions. But how much growth can a person, an organization, etc. handle? What is the “magic” formula or ratio? Or how bout the bigger question (at least in my mind); how much can we stand to change, but still be the person we were (or pertaining to business: continue to deliver the service/product that got us where we are today)?
I know we as The Garland Group continually strive to break new barriers and stay well ahead of the pack. However, Brad still strives to maintain the core values and principles…that personal touch…that we are known for (that Henry founded). Something that every company (small and large) must continue to deal with. So that’s been on my mind lately…and I don’t really know if I actually ever stated anything….or again managed to ramble on. Regardless I hope it will generate some conversation or even a thought of how you are going to try and find that balance of change in your life (personal or business).