“The dinosaur's eloquent lesson is that if some bigness is good, an overabundance of bigness is not necessarily better.”
-Eric Johnston
The Law of The Dinosaur: If something is dying, let it die. If it is dead, bury it and move on. Policies, procedures and projects that don’t produce results are our dinosaurs and should be alleviated before they cost more in money, time and productivity.
Climate Change
Archaeologists tell us that the dinosaurs probably died out and became extinct because they weren’t equipped to adapt to a changed environment and climate. As the climate became different, they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) become different. But other species on this planet survived because they were able to adapt and they thrived with the different climate. It is called survival of the fittest. The fittest species can survive, regardless of its size.
Your business climate has definitely changed. But there are obvious habits, policies, attitudes, people and inventory that are holding you back. These aren’t making you “fiscally fit.” They cost you more than they deliver in profits. They don’t allow you to become what you could be without them. When you resist changing them by refusing to adapt to a changed business climate, global marketplace or economy they hold you back from making the decision required to move forward. Whatever excuse you choose for avoiding change, it will lead to your own extinction.
Sadly, everyone can see it but you. It might be a fashion style you think makes you stand out, but instead is being ridiculed by onlookers. It might be your stubborn belief in a product or item in your inventory that you just know someone will want to buy if you push it hard and long enough. It might be meetings with your employees that are useless, time-wasting, or simply self-aggrandizing. Whatever name it goes by, it is costing you more money (or time) to hold on to it than to just get over it and move on.
Rest In Peace
The late Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple said, “Get rid of all the crappy stuff, and focus on the good stuff.” At the time he was advising Nike president and CEO Mark Parker, but it spoke to items unwanted by the marketplace that Apple tried unsuccessfully to sell. Remember the Apple Newton? (A product that Apple failed at miserably) Like Steve Jobs and Apple, you have “crappy stuff” too. That stuff has dwindled in importance or function and is no longer profitable for you. Instead of being the elephant in your room, it has really become the “dinosaur” in your room. You need to purge it, free it, lose it, let it die and get over it. Hold a funeral service and put it to rest.
Your people are in the room.
Most of them contribute to your profit line. Some make more...
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