MARKETING EVOLUTION
EMBRACE
THE CUT
By Marion Wakahe
T
hursday June 23rd 2016 is
the day Britons voted to leave
the European Union. I’m no
financial analyst; it’s impossible
for me to predict or have a full
understanding of the repercussions
of this decision. However, this vote
made it abundantly clear that we’re
all inherently deeply resistant to
change.
Soon after the vote, the British
pound slumped to a 31 year low
against the dollar and 40 billion
pounds were wiped off the value
of British banks. Businesses with
headquarters in the UK that rely
on easy access to European markets
are considering moving their
headquarters.
The financial markets have clearly
reacted negatively as well. This is
just a list of the few things that have
happened so far not including the
things that will happen.
One might argue that all these
things are happening because Britons
made a wrong decision; there were
more apparent advantages than
disadvantages of staying in the EU.
However as we all know too well
even when change is meant for good
it’s met with significant resistance
and it’s no wonder that there’s more
than enough literature on change
management with gurus like John
Kotter leading the pack.
There are several models of dealing
with organizational change
management so I thought I’d look
into what it takes to successfully
embrace change as individuals
‘‘ As we all know too well even when change
is meant for good it’s met with significant
resistance and it’s no wonder that there’s
more than enough literature on change
management with gurus like John Kotter
leading the pack.’’
26 MAL 13/16 ISSUE
especially those working in marketing
fields. Much as we’re well aware that
the field of marketing is very much
affected by change, many of us still
find ourselves taken aback by the
pace of change that happens; as soon
as we learn this it’s old news.
Know that a cut will inevitably come
There are 2 types of cuts: the
complete cut off and pruning. The
illustration given in the Bible in
the book of John 15:2 probably
best describes this. Christ talked of
branches that bear no fruit being cut
off and branches that do bear fruit
being pruned in order to bear even
more fruit.
Pruning is defined as cutting off dead
parts or excessive branches from
a tree or a plant. It’s expected that
every working professional does their
very best to keep abreast of all new
knowledge related to their field and
where necessary get training for the
same.
This professional will find himself/
herself frequently pruned by the
continuous changes impacting the
field of marketing. It means being
open to dropping what worked
yesterday and picking what works for
today.