Posted by John Panaccione on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 @ 05:14 PM
Small business certainly has its challenges in today's unprecedented economic times. Uncertainty abounds. You can't pick up a newspaper or listen to a news analyst predicting doom and gloom for the foreseeable future. But as a leader of a small business that has survived the tumultuous first 5 years (we're working on our 7th year), I am more optimistic and excited about the days ahead than ever before. Why? Well, for starters, this nation and the capitalism that has contributed to its success has been driven by innovation. Duress is a friend of innovation - it fuels it. Under duress, people will try new things. They'll give new ways of reaching their goals a chance. If the old way of doing things are just going to drive old results, then why do them? When given a fraction of the resources but expected to achieve breakthrough results, taking a careful look at other methods is now a more sound course of action than ever before. Duress creates the environment for leaders to emerge and drive their organizations to success despite the challenges that they face. These organizations will be the winners in these trying times.
In our business, we offer new ways of achieving breakthrough results. For years its been a tough sell. To date, even though we've proven that some of the world's most established companies have adopted our technology and approach to solving big business problems works, many other people who have taken a look at what we have to offer simply didn't think it would work in their organizations. However, it's different today.
So, I'm excited about the times that lie ahead for us. We live in a time in which the context of each day is "change". Most people are naturally opposed to change, however change is in vogue these days politically and in the business world. The context of change brings with it a new willingness to listen to new, proven approaches - deciding if the approach would work "here". People are actually more receptive to listening to our approach than ever before.
This blog will be a record of experiences we are having with our customers and partners who are driving breakthrough results through the innovative use of new technology and processes. It's also a recording of work and lessons learned we are involved with in partnership with new customers and partners. It will not be an advertisement for what we do - see the rest of our web site for that. Rather, it's a space in the virtual world where we will share our wisdom, and welcome yours. What are you doing in your organization to innovatively drive results in trying times? Share your stories along with ours! Challenge anything written here, for it is the feedback from you that steers our strategy. We welcome your views! - John