Change brings ambiguity and challenges to our lives. So
we don’t like it, and our natural reaction is to fight it. But while we may try
to resist change and bristle at the stress it gives us, we
are also its primary drivers.
Consider the devices we use and the services we’ve come
to expect. Were those available to us some five, 10 or 15 years ago? Most likely,
many were not. Imagine a world today without smartphones, 24/7 online shopping,
or the ability to watch TV programs whenever we want.
In the 1987 movie “Wall Street,” this is what a cell
phone looked like ➡ ➡ ➡
In the 1987 movie “Wall Street,” this is what a cell
phone looked like ➡ ➡ ➡
It was so expensive that only millionaires like the
fictional Gordon Gekko could afford one. By the way, the reception wasn’t that
great, and it weighed a couple of pounds. Not very convenient.
So what happened? It was consumer demand – ours – that
drove the development of technologies and capabilities we take for granted
today: a smartphone in the pocket, an HDTV at home, and a hybrid car in the
driveway.
No, we didn’t explicitly ask for the many modern devices
and conveniences we now take for granted. We never asked for the remarkable
smartphone apps that allow us to accomplish a range of tasks that were never before
possible. But their development and evolution were driven by our unceasing and
insatiable desire for smaller, faster,
higher quality, cheaper, more convenient, and easier.
Choices become expectations
These are some of the components of change. Consumer
choices that have become expectations and then demands, impacts you, no matter
your profession. Your demands and expectations. My demands and expectations.
On Monday morning, we go to work to face the unrelenting
pace of change. What passed for quality work a few years ago is unacceptable
today. It’s practically a firing offense.
As we settle into a “normative” behavior and set of
expectations as deliverers of services and goods, along comes a competitor that
does it better, faster, or cheaper. And we have to match it or beat it, or we
and our company will be left behind.
Our boss’ demands seem greater and more oppressive than ever before. But then, so too are his boss’, as well as the CEO’s demands, and the demands of shareholders for ever greater returns on investment. And those ever-increasing returns come from you and your team’s ability to create and deliver better products and services.
Our boss’ demands seem greater and more oppressive than ever before. But then, so too are his boss’, as well as the CEO’s demands, and the demands of shareholders for ever greater returns on investment. And those ever-increasing returns come from you and your team’s ability to create and deliver better products and services.
It’s not just our everyday devices like smartphones, TVs
and the Internet. It’s health care, transportation and every other component of
modern life. Consider just health care.
We’ve seen such amazing advances in our lifetimes. Diseases
of our youth or our parents’ youth have been either eradicated or controlled, allowing
continued life for many people who before would have been condemned to an early
death or disablement.
The health care field – pharmaceuticals, devices, and
delivery – continues to improve, continues to impact our lives in ever
impressive and heretofore untold ways. Again, those advances are only possible
because of people’s ability to adapt to and leverage change. But we have so
much further to go, so many horrible diseases to conquer. And that’s change and
more change.
We build our societal growth and advances on what went
before. That is the essence of continuous change: constant improvement on what
we now have.
It’s a never-ending cycle, and you’d better get used to
it. It’s only going to come at us faster. Then again, we could revert to that shoe-sized
cell phone. Somehow, I doubt we will.
