How to Outsmart Change

Change. One founder's living nightmare. Another's living dream. Either way it can be a great liberator. Which is just as well, because the changes to commerce right now are perpetual and pervasive, and what worked 3 months ago may not be working now.

I recently gave a talk at a Women's Business Group for FSB, on the ways it is possible to use the momentum of change for good.

We talked about having an agile strategy, ensuring the team have a holistic approach to work, becoming a client whisperer and using the trends in your market to direct your product/service development rather that what the founders wanted to do with the product/service.

However, by far the most impactful discussion was around changing how we talk about what we do and what we don't do. By changing the language to " I do" and "I don't", away from "I can" and "I can't" resonated with the delegates so much, not least it seemed to give them permission to scythe what wasn't working anymore, or indeed what they didn't want to do anymore.

Fortro is about creating the appropriate roadmap, building the capacity and then having execution as the main strategy to success. I am not a coach in the traditional sense but I am very interested in how different founders approach change and I do extol the benefits of "thinking" for different results, with my clients, in particular how to outsmart the negative impact of change.

Change the Language.

In my experience, when founders base their success on what they can and can't do, then they limit themselves to those capabilities. They are telling their subconscious they are incapable of something. This is unlikely to produce positive results.

When they talk it terms of what their business does and doesn't do, it changes the thinking to a position of choosing not to do something. And then it has nothing to do with capability and more about proposition. And that, in turn brings a strength to decision making, capacity building and to any conversations with new connections, prospects or clients. The quality of conversation increases and founders feel more focused, motivated and confident. Founders are able to provide the right information those around them and that in turn builds value.

Try it. Picture what success looks like, and then change the language around what your company does, or does not. Much more powerful that focussing on what you can and can't do.