You can plan or you can do.
Planning will give you help you develop a hypothesis about what might happen. Doing will give you real world feedback on how your ideas actually interact with reality. In researching the characteristics of a multitude of successful entrepreneurs a key mindset is the Action Imperative.
An absolute truth is that nothing happens unless someone makes it happen.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. There is a tendency amongst many of us to strive for perfection. I understand. Been there and done that. The thing is why you are waiting to develop the perfect plan, the world continues to evolve around you. What is important is not your plan, but how fast you can evolve.
Action is more important now than ever and will become more important as time progresses.
Why, you may ask?
There is a simple answer that has complex ramifications. The world around us is changing at an exponential pace. This is largely due to the fact that more and more businesses are becoming digitized. As the world becomes more digital, the rate of change is shifting from linear (which is how most of us humans perceive the world) to exponential. This is why we see entire industries that used to be profitable fade into oblivion.
Exponential is hard to perceive.
Lindear, Exponential, and Cubic Functions
In fact, if you look at an exponential growth curve, in the early stages of growth it appears to be linear. However, when you progress through time, it the slope starts to increase faster and faster until suddenly you see the hockey-stick like growth that is characteristic of an exponential growth curve.
This type of rapid change catches us off guard. And, it is only going to get worse.
As the number of industries that become digitized increases, there are disruptive effects in other industries. These disruptive effects become amplified, further accelerating the rate of change.
Think of the evolution of computerized voice recognition technology. I am able to talk to my computer and it can transcribe what I am saying. There are even algorithms that can predict what I might say next, that can correct my grammar, and provide me metrics on my writing performance and what I need to do to improve my performance. We have come a long way from the typewriter that was the primary tool for writers 50 years ago. If there are any companies still in existence that are manufacturing typewriters I have no knowledge of them.
Think of photography. Disrupted.
Is there a Kodak Moment in Your Future?
Mass markets. Changing to Micro-markets.
How well do you know your customers?
Browser based search. Voice activated search.
How does the impact how customers find you?
And, this list continues to grow.
Business that can innovate and execute will be the one’s that survive in the hyper-competitive business ecosystem in which we exist. Those that fail to take the actions necessary to survive in this type of environment will become footnotes (or totally forgotten) in the annals of business history.
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