February 1, 2021

The most dangerous words in business are…

Sloth clinging to branch

“The most dangerous words in business are, ‘We’ve always done it this way'” says Darren Murph, the head of remote working for GitLab (Gitlab is a software company with about 1,300 employees, all working remotely).

Think of the businesses you know that have gone out of business because they didn’t adapt to change.

Now look at your business, your employer, or your life, and notice where you are clinging to your old way of doing things despite the wave of change we are facing at the moment.

How do you react to change? Do you embrace it, learn from it, and lean into it? Or do you cling to the past and try to claw your way back to the way things used to be, back to a non-existent ‘old normal’?

We are often blind to our attachment to ‘how we do things’, so ask people around you to suggest changes and see how you react. Do you recoil from suggestions of change, or are you willing to explore them?

Here is a simple graphic on change readiness that you might find useful.

My best wishes, Paul

Paul Matthews

CEO and Founder of People Alchemy

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