Old school Metallica fans were up in arms recently over the recent influx of new Metallica fans after Eddie Munson’s scorching rendition of Master of Puppets in the finale of Stranger Things.
Metallica responded by saying we don’t care if you’ve been a fan for 40 years or 40 hours. If you love the music, you love the music.
My point is that those fans are hanging onto something to the detriment of themselves and to the detriment of the very thing they love.
And the same applies to your business. Don’t hang onto those traditions or processes (or even systems) that are no longer serving you. Don’t hang on just because that’s the way you’ve always done it. Don’t hang on because you’re afraid of what’s next and the ambiguity of it.
The good news is that ambiguity can be reduced or even eradicated through research. Understanding who your customers really are and what they really want and need, provides the certainty that this line of innovation will be worth it.
Necessity is the mother of invention
Covid saw the end of many businesses, but it also ushered in many new ones. Born out of necessity and desperation and a desire to survive. But the individuals and businesses that pivoted and changed by tapping into the problems that people care about and need solved, grew for the better. A lot of the businesses that held on to the old ways sadly died out.
Once you’ve innovated don’t forget about the people that you’re serving. Don’t think your work is done. Your employee and customer experience constantly needs to be evolving with you.
“But Martin, we’ve got an outstanding product and can’t even keep up with the sales! Why do we need to worry?” You need to worry because someone out there is developing the next, smarter, faster thing that is more efficient and, quite simply, better than yours. So the experience people have with your business needs to be great. Not good. Not average. Great. Consistently.
“Anything worth doing, is worth doing well.” Hunter S. Thompson (the man, the legend)
Be bold. Take the plunge. Let go. It could be the difference between innovating and expanding or simply fading away into obscurity.
Dial it up to 11.