“Whoever owns the ink in an industry is the one who gains an
unfair advantage over their competition”
- Verne Harnish, Founder of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and Author of Scaling Up
change your business.
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THE NEW NORMAL
back. That estimate turned into six months and has now reached
12 months as vaccine research continues.
I do believe that, as humans, we are incredibly resilient and have
short memories. This means things will inevitably return back to
normal at some point, despite that this next normal looks much
different from the one we leave behind.
In Jim Collins’s 2011 book, Great by Choice, he writes an entire
section about luck, which I’ve previously written about at length
and talk about often. Collins asserts that companies experiencing
a consistently positive return on luck are the ones who think
strategically about where their industry, customers, and trends
are heading.
What’s most fascinating about Collins’s research is this: whether
it was good luck or bad luck these companies faced, strategic
companies were able to experience a positive return on their luck
regardless of the circumstances.
I have always challenged my clients to assess what their return on
luck is going to be in any given situation. We explore how they will
remain on the forefront of this change and make sure the
company is strategically placed to take advantage of this.
I’d like to balance Collins’s tried-and-true theory with a second
observation from another great mind. Jeff Bezos, founder of
Amazon, has noted that when there are changes of any kind,
everyone focuses on the changes. However, one of his own
strategies is to focus on what won’t change.
WHAT WON’T CHANGE IS
HUMAN NATURE; IN PARTICULAR,
THAT WE ARE SOCIAL BEINGS.
THIS MEANS THAT DIGITAL
MEETINGS ARE ONLY GOING TO
CUT IT FOR SO LONG BEFORE
WE NEED TO GET BACK TO THAT
FACE-TO-FACE DYNAMIC.
Next time you think about the new normal, think about what
won’t change in your industry.
In a recent discussion with one of our Client-Partners, they asked
me if I thought magazines would now become a thing of the past.
To this I responded no, because I don’t think that any more than I
think books will become a thing of the past.
Ten years ago, everyone thought the book would be phased out
with the introduction of digital reading technology, but that
simply did not happen. There’s something about the experience of
holding a book in your hand that is not comparable to a digital
counterpart. The same goes for magazines.
The things that will change are those that actually improve our lives
in some way. What is going to stick through this turmoil are the new
developments moving us forward. Using Zoom for a large portion of
face-to-face meetings, telephone hearings for medical and legal
matters, and significantly reduced nonessential travel are a most
likely few.
I can tell you as someone who previously enjoyed Elite airline status,
I’m just not planning on traveling as much anymore because I know
much of my responsibilities can now be handled virtually.
What will stick is a newfound familiarity with the digital
atmosphere and all of the tools it can provide for distance
collaboration. Something else that will stick to varying degrees is
people working more prominently from home.
In our own company, we made the decision to go completely virtual
over the lockdown and no longer have a physical office to go back to.
We found this to actually be more productive and a better setup for
all of us to work flexibly around the clock while accommodating
respective work-life balances.
When you’re thinking about your own new normal, block off an
entire afternoon and get your entire leadership team together to
develop that strategy. Don’t rush the discussion. Ask yourselves:
What are the trends? Where is the industry going? How are our
customers changing for the better? Where is our product and service
line? What is being introduced that may disrupt our operations?
Really keep in mind that this pandemic is
not going to change the human behavior
that has been programmed into our DNA
for the past 2 million years. It’s just not. So
keep that in mind as you’re planning your
future and what your “next normal” is
going to look like.
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Andy Buyting's thought leadership journey started when
he published his first business book in 2007 and first
magazines in 2009. Since that time, he has leveraged
custom magazines and online digital content strategies to
establish himself as a leading authority
in content marketing and brand
positioning. Through his company,
Tulip Media, Andy and his team make
these content marketing strategies and
tools accessible to their
Client-Partners.
www.TM.Media
HOW TO WIN CLIENTS & INFLUENCE PEOPLE ANDY BUYTING
HOW TO
WIN CLIENTS
& INFLUENCE
PEOPLE
ANDY BUYTING
SECOND EDITION
WARNING
Reading this book will
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