Erasmus Nekundi
Some moons ago you were a toddler, but today you are an adult. We were in summer not long ago, but today we are freezing because winter has just arrived. So the jerseys are out of the wardrobes, so we adopt to survive the new season. In the 90s, our parents had feature phones, but today smartphones are dominant. They used to paddle oars in canoes, but now it’s about cruising in yachts. All these, however distinct they are, are evidence that change is a guaranteed and inevitable reality; and timely evolution is central to survive in a today’s fast-paced life.
A quick reflection on the infamous tale of Kodak’s fall from grace. Kodak, which was at some point a household name – the king of photography and videography products, is exemplary to how self-sabotaging it is when you fail to effect necessary change (s) at the right time. The demise of Kodak started when the company ignored to transit from analog to digital. Worse, and incredibly so, even when walls were closing in for Kodak with Fujifilm pushing digitalisation in their space, Kodak still held onto the illusion of analogs. The business of films and paper was very lucrative then, hence Kodak did not see the need to adopt to change. A decision they lived to regret and witnessed their fall from Kingship to obscurity. Let me not even start with Nokia.
The lesson from the above-abridged tale of Kodak is clear. That a mind that is open to transformational change is indispensable. I can just imagine how irksome it gets for one with a mind that is progressive and growth oriented, when is told the clichéd line of “This is how we have always done it.” This anti-progress sentiment is exasperating, and mostly advanced by one discomforted by the fear-of-the-unknown associated with change. It is an utterance cited typically to discourage any development that ruffles the order of a deemed normalcy.
Generally, being a closed-minded person that is non-receptive to new ideas is a costly exercise. An exercise that can render one redundant and obsolete. Willy-nilly, change is a guaranteed reality that we all need to accept. Progress or growth in general is usually challenged and made difficult when two forces pull in disparate directions due to dissimilar perceptions re change. It is therefore essential, particularly, if you function as a team with a common goal to have a cohesive standpoint with regard to change.
We hear of “transformational change (s).” This change in institutions comes with amendments in business strategy and systems and processes, subsequently necessitating a shift in work culture. Recently, I ran an online poll about the necessity of institutions transformational change, and satisfactorily, most participants indicated that change is the insurer of our future survival; therefore, as individuals in institutions, we must be agents of change in our respective capacities.
So let us stay open to change, because change is the only constant thing that is inescapable.
