Change Capacity
“It is not the strongest of the species that will survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
I’m convinced that this quote from Charles Darwin could have been written about business. Survival is about innovation and pivots and leadership. And surviving leads to thriving!
We know that businesses have had to adapt to change—a lot—in the past two years. But if you think about it, businesses have always been responding to change. Some are more reluctant than others; think about the companies that adapted to change too slowly (or not at all) and didn’t survive. Blockbuster. Borders. Toys R Us. And then there are the ones who move surely and quickly, embracing change and becoming even more successful. Netflix, Apple, and Etsy come to mind.
The successful, thriving businesses are the ones who have welcomed a concept called “change capacity.” In essence, these organizations—big or small—have normalized change. In fact they’ve not just normalized it, they’ve encouraged it.
This is something I believe dance studio owners have to do too. We have to decide that change is inevitable and that we will embrace it with open arms. We have to agree that change is OK and can even be fun. Or maybe you can think of it this way: We have to invite it over for dinner and make friends with it!
So, how do you increase your change capacity? You can do a few things to shift your mindset:
- Choose to view change as a growth opportunity
- Research businesses and leaders who have proven successful at change
- Build a team of people who enjoy innovating and thinking on their feet
- Reward employees for their creativity, effort, and new ideas
- Decide to get excited about changes your business makes
- Become a role model of accepting and adapting to change
We know that change isn’t easy. But healthy things grow and growing things change… and that goes for the dance industry too!
The next time you’re faced with a challenge and feel reluctant to adapt to a new system, protocol, team member, or policy, remember: thriving doesn’t come from ease or intelligence. It comes from an eagerness to grow, invent, and achieve. Your studio will succeed because of change, not in spite of it.
Love,
Misty
