Re-invention is not changing what is, but creating what isn't

"The Reinvention Roller Coaster: Risking the Present for a Powerful Future."  By Tracy Goss, Richard Pascale and Anthony Athos. The authors contest: Re-invention is not changing what is, but creating what isn't.  A butterfly is not more or a better caterpillar, it is a completely different animal. Incremental change is not enough for many companies today. These companies need to re-invent themselves. "When a company reinvents itself, it must alter the underlying assumptions and invisible premises on which its decisions and actions are based." In other words, it must change its context along the following lines of reasoning: The first step is for a company to uncover its hidden context. A company is only going to do this when it is threatened, losing momentum or eager to break new ground. "The journey to reinvent yourself and your company is not as scary as they say it is; it's worse," says Mort Meyerson, chairman of Perot Systems. You do it only out of the conviction that the only way to compete in the future is to be a totally different company. Shifts in context can only occur when there is a shift in being. Nordstrom's is used as an example. Their way of being is summarized as "Respond to Unreasonable Customer Requests." Those that have tried to copy Nordstrom's have not understood their fundamental way of being and have failed. A declaration from a leader, like Sir Colin Marshall's pronouncement that British Airways would be "the world's favorite airline" (when, at the time, it was one of the worst), does a couple of things: Creates possibility Stimulates interest and commitment A declaration is different from a vision statement, which provides a more elaborate description of the desired state and the criteria against which success will be measured. Key to re-invention is the re-invention of the leader   O2ibm Visit this Open Forum