“While CEOs obsess over getting big-banged out of existence, odds are good that their companies will suffer a more pedestrian fate: they will simply cease to matter.” - Inc. Magazine editor Leigh Buchanan
How relevant is your organization? Have you asked yourself that question recently? It goes something like this: In 3 years will the services we’re providing still matter? The best companies ask themselves this question every year. I’d bet many have never asked it.
And shouldn’t we be asking this of ourselves? In 3 years will my regular contributions still be relevant, to my:
- Employer?
- Manager?
- Business Unit?
- Community?
- Church?
- Relationships?
- Self?
Some of these are probably painful questions to ask. We’re afraid of the answers. What if I have become obsolete? Or we may be so engrained in what we do, and have been doing, that what was once a very purposeful and successful approach to our careers, community, and family has become stale and aimless. We’re just mailing it in.
Yet, once you ask the question you open up a window to new possibilities for increased value to those around you and most importantly to yourself. And be prepared, since you’ll likely create a lot of new and painful work.
Author Steve Tobak wrote that many of us say we want to be successful but are also “picky about all the things you don’t think you should have to put up with to achieve that success.”
I observe a lot of this. If you’ve got a winning formula, why mess with success? It’s tempting not to tinker with something that seemingly is working well. It’s certainly a lot easier than the difficult and scary work of evolving and innovating. But I promise you, without a focus on remaining relevant, your success will not last.
Realizing you’ve become irrelevant can also be embarrassing. Conan O’Brien had fun with Radio Shack’s announcement in 2014 that they would be closing a number of stores: “Radio Shack announced plans to close 1,000 stores throughout the US. Customers were very upset when they got the news on their pagers.”
I don’t believe status quo truly exists. Instead, I think things are constantly in motion: Our company is getting bigger or it’s getting smaller. Our knowledge is growing or it’s shrinking. We are improving or we’re falling behind. Our relationship is blossoming or withering. I have a YPO friend who says it a little more plainly, using the motto Status Quo Sucks within his organization.
Most of the time it’s hard to see when things are slipping. It just creeps up on us and before we know it, our contributions don’t carry the same value they once did. We’re on the path to irrelevancy.
What’s The Risk?
The risk lies in believing your present circumstances can and will continue indefinitely. This type of mindset will lead to a diminishing contribution to the people and organizations most critical in your life.
"The antidote to irrelevance is change,” says author Carey Nieuwhof. Yet change is hard. Not everyone is willing to do it or can even see the need for it. So we take the easy route and keep doing what we’ve always done and hope we can just hang on.
Where to start?
Begin by asking the relevance question of your business or yourself. Be brutally honest.- Don’t be afraid of the answers and where this process takes you.
- Involve others in your organization or family and appreciate this won’t be a popular initiative with everyone. There will be doubters.
- Commit to pursuing a plan of growth and appreciate the work it will take. Even those who believe change is necessary won’t be fully committed to seeing it through.
As Andy Dufresne voices in the movie Shawshank Redemption, “I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.”
For individuals and businesses, you can’t afford to exist in your current state or you will ultimately become extinct. Ask the question before it’s too late. Make the purposeful choice to pursue growth.
