Big Ideas:
- Change is constant. After the pandemic will be no different.
- Get clear on what success looks like. Most people and businesses aren’t.
- There won’t be a return to “normal”. What comes next will be different.
Love this piece from Lyn Gardner because she nails so much about what I’ve been thinking about over the last few months.
Lyn’s piece comes at this from the angle of theatre organizations in the United Kingdom, but her larger message can be applied to people no matter where they are in the world or what part of the industry they exist in.
In my reading, Lyn offers up three important ideas to think through this morning:
- The organization of the future has to be agile.
- This job is about people.
- There won’t be a return to normal. There will just be whatever is next.
I kept thinking about that this week as I kept trying to think through what I was thinking about the ticketing game after my trip to Vegas for Ticket Summit, the ECHL, and the ALSD.
Then I had a meeting this week where I asked someone what the biggest challenge was in their prospects and the word that came out was “apathy”. Then, I had another meeting where “apathetic” came up a few times. Finally, I talked with an old friend that was in the game but moved on to other areas and he said, “apathy” to me at several points in the conversation.
Then it came to me, in too many instances the primary side in the States can feel apathetic to the changes that are happening all around them and the brokers are the opposite of apathetic, gung ho about the future, pushing constantly, for better or worse.
Remember my formula:
- Volatility + Recovery = Opportunity
The reality is that coming out of the pandemic, we know a few things that are likely to impact our businesses:
- People are making different decisions about where they spend their money and what is important to them.
- We are going to be dealing with a significant psychological situation for the foreseeable future. Don’t believe me? Go outside and take a walk or a drive and just see how people are acting.
- There are economic trends that are likely shifting the ability for markets to be able to make sales. A case in point, I read a book on Amazon’s growing dominance of the American economy this week, Fulfillment, and I didn’t realize that Baltimore used to be the 6th largest city in America and that as the economy has become more unequal and unstable that the city has shrunk to half the size of DC. This has impacted the economic base of the city and could explain some of the Orioles’ attendance struggles the last few years, along with performance. As for the book, check it out, and think about if this was Wal-Mart doing all of these same behaviors, what would people be saying? Outside of that, check out some of the economic trends on display and look for the root causes and think about how they apply to your business.
What do we do with all of this?
First, it comes with the proper mindset.
All three of the above factors require a proper mindset:
- Agility in your business practices requires you to know that you can’t do things the old way any longer.
- A focus on people means that you have to do more than just pay lip service to folks. You have to act like they are the most important factor in your success because, without customers, you don’t have anything.
- Knowing that there won’t be a return to “normal” but something different means that you can lean on your experience but recognize that it isn’t likely to be enough.
Second, embrace innovation.
Innovation is just the chance to better.
As I’ve been sitting here doing so much thinking about what I want to do on the other side of the pandemic, the idea that sticks with me is the idea of getting to the next level.
By this, I mean that we want to push forward, not just fix problems.
Fixing problems is easy.
Pushing forward is tougher, but more rewarding.
Granted, you can’t have some big gaping holes in your business. But you can’t just keep putting out fires either.
You have to think about and act upon the tasks and goals necessary to push yourself forward.
Finally, know what success looks like.
This seems rather basic on the surface, but when I go out into the world to talk with folks and work with clients, I always ask them what success will look like for them.
Most of the time, they aren’t clear on what success looks like.
Why?
Most strategies aren’t strategies.
Most goals are wishes.
And, most people aren’t clear on where they are trying to get to with their focuses, goals, or ambitions.
I usually call this having a grand ambition, but for today let’s just think about defining what success will look like for your organization and setting some SMART objectives around those goals.
The reality is that what comes next will be different. Change was always coming even if we didn’t have a pandemic. And, you either embrace change or you run from it.