Just when I thought running 25 miles a week, swimming, and hiking meant I was in good shape. I participated recently in a yoga class with my daughter – a class filled with Zoomers (a few) to Boomers (the majority and obviously all in better shape than me). When you start watching the clock in the studio to see how many more minutes are left before you can rejoin the human race of the ‘almost fit’, you know there needs to be some lifestyle changes – and fast. I thought about how fixed life can become with the stresses of work and life. And how tense. It caused me to reflect and realize that it’s time to stretch the limits – physically as well as fiscally.
Unfortunately, like my yoga experience, many businesses from CPG, to manufacturing, entertainment, medicine, hospitality, education… have become fixed in space too. They are fixed in the same decades old systems, management style, intelligence or deliverables. Possibly there are new innovations, fueled by various solutions – both human-driven and AI, that have the appearance of aligning with the times, stretching the business structure to meet the perceived human evolution. The innovations are the beginning of the needed corporate fitness new ‘stretches’.
And like my yoga experience, the business stretches can be received with protest by those who are happier in a more sedate condition, resisting the ‘bend a little further- you can do it’ mantra, no matter how much encouragement is used to lubricate the stiff joints.
And some resistance to stretch that could benefit all throughout the company can sneak in from those with vested interest in current protocol- tighten up the systems- increase the stress – push all to the limits for increased temporal returns. However, in the long run, this company model cannot sustain and its viability diminishes.
So the lesson learned from a series of painful Downward Dog poses, can also apply to stretching our businesses to be more alive and balanced.
- Create a new ideal scene for your company that includes ensuring viability not just for the bottom line, but for all who contribute to this;
- Changes happens on a gradient so choose areas where the new stretches will address the greatest area of instability and discomfort – celebrate incremental progress;
- Keep stretching that area then slowly add other new areas. Is it HR? Is it the viability? Is is it tech updates?;
- Breathe – for business this is step back, take a break to reassess, acknowledge the gains, then stretch again;
- Learn from experts, who can confront the sore spots and recommend a better technique;
- Stretch every day, even if it is for one new idea, one new movement.
And I’ll check back with you in a month, and if we did all the stretches, our toes as well as our fiscal goals may be easier to reach.
Gillian