Challenge Everything in Your Business

I’m not very good with quotes but one that I remember is the one that says that “the only constant in life is change.” What is your biggest business challenge? We often get stuck between the comfortable and the new. The lure of new and beautiful experiences are so appealing, but the offer that the unexpected could happen is sometimes crippling. Which keeps us in this state of inertia. Think about how Blockbuster got smashed by the advent of Netflix. Or what exactly is the definition of a Kodak moment today. What is your business challenge right now?

It isn’t only in action that the problem of inertia comes up. Inertia comes with our thinking, how we perceive the world and what we believe to be true. The lens that we see the world from is so important, because the lens shapes the way we feel and how we perceive everyday experiences. Someone that is looking to be offended will find 10 things to be offended by even before they have left the house. And, the contrary to that is true too. Sometimes you walk along the street and see a human being that is so different from everyone else because they have this smile on their face. The smile of being content with where things are. Don’t you want to be that? I do.

I have been truly blessed because I could leave one culture and be immersed in another one. My move to Australia about 15 years ago has helped me challenge ideas that I took for granted for years. And we all do this. We take certain things for granted. We take our beliefs about the world, or about religion, or about politics, or about life so seriously that we don’t even allow ourselves to be challenged when we are put in a situation when those beliefs come under attack.

We should improve our arguments instead of just outright refusing to even consider different perspectives. Shouldn’t we love the idea that what we always thought to be true might actually not be correct? And, that lack of questioning could be hurting our business and the people in it. As entrepreneurs we need to move our thinking forward and look at the world differently. Our beliefs don’t make us the people we are. Our lack of challenging those beliefs do.

So the next time someone asks you a question about your business that makes you nervous or angry, I challenge you to ask yourself why that is. It could be a very ego driven response that you’ve seen others have and you feel like it is the valid response. Chances are you will even justify your reaction, as well as the reactions of others that have the same one, because it validates yours. But isn’t that just an ego move?

This is more true for business questions. Every time we give time and space to that hard question, we move forward. We have the gift of perceiving the world in a whole bunch of different ways. Shouldn’t we want to make sure we are always learning which ones feels the best? Because it is the pursuit of learning, pivoting and getting better that makes you and your business successful.