Next Is Now

5 Steps for Embracing Change—Building a Business that Thrives into the Future

Lior Arussy

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781501171475
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Decision Making
• Index: Business

One of the world's leading authorities on customer-centric business transformation, Lior Arussy—founder and CEO of the global consulting firm Strativity Group—offers "a revolutionary, yet pragmatic guide to not only managing change, but driving and thriving in a world of cataclysmic explosions of information and technology" (Joseph Michelli, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Leading the Starbucks Way ). The old business model of adapting to change for continued success is dead. Change is the new normal. There are no more periods of stability and predictability. There is only change. This continuous upheaval can undercut morale, decrease productivity and decimate profits, or it can be a game-changing opportunity.In Next Is Now, "Lior Arussy provides a comprehensive and instructive roadmap for leading change and preparing yourself and your organization for the future. He generously shares insider insights, examples, and lessons learned from his many years advising top business leaders." (Denise Lee Yohn, author of What Great Brands Do ). He helps corporate leaders and their employees view change as an opportunity to become invested, drive that change, and achieve more success and job satisfaction than if change were simply implemented from the top down.Based on his experience working one-on-one with major corporate clients like Mercedes-Benz, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Thomson Reuters, HSBC and other Fortune 500 clients, Arussy shares his five-step Future Ready Impact program, guiding change-impacted employees and business owners from a victim mentality to one of participation and ownership. As Stephen Cannon, the former president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, raves, "For anyone interested in building a thriving business, Lior Arussy's insights provide actionable steps to integrate into your plans for achieving success."

PART

ONE

one

CHANGE RESILIENCE

Connecting to Your Core Cause

Up until very recently, doctors enjoyed an undeniable prestige. After completing many years of medical school, they came to possess special skills. They were considered the healers of the human race. Their decisions were final, and patients accepted their instructions without a challenge.

Today, it is common practice for patients to show up with data collected from unknown sources on the Internet and challenge their physicians’ recommendations. Doctors find themselves justifying their advice to patients who may not have taken even a single college course, let alone have professional medical expertise. In the name of “It’s my body” and “I found it on the Internet,” patients are redefining the medical profession in ways we are still trying to fully understand.

Thanks to patient empowerment and immediate access to medical insight on the Internet, veteran physicians feel threatened. Every new resident in their hospitals can now tap into knowledge that took them years to accumulate through hard work and trial and error. The entire medical profession is going through a seismic change we have yet to see the full impact of.

And it’s not the only one.

Entire industries are disappearing and undergoing fundamental changes at a pace we have never encountered before. The music business was altered forever with the creation of iTunes and streaming services. The automobile industry is starting to feel the pinch from ride-sharing companies like Zipcar. Banking is now done online with a slew of new financial empowerment tools that turn every millennial into an educated banker. Travel agents? A distant, fading memory.

Our natural reaction to all of this change is resistance. And the more change thrown at us, the greater our resistance. If we are not future ready, we reject it. But the price of our aversion to change is a loss of marketplace relevance. It hinders our ability to continue to make an impact on a world that’s evolving faster than ever before.

When I work with companies and individuals looking to develop change resilience, I ask them to recognize the emotional aspect of change. If employees are emotionally ready for change, the chance that a new strategy will succeed is exponentially higher. After all, the human body can only handle so much change—and the same is true of an organization made up of large groups of human beings. So whether you’re leading a change at your organization or being asked to take part in one, take heart:

In this approach, we start by remembering everything that doesn’t change.

We do this by identifying our “core cause”—in other words, our individual or organizational responsibilities, our mission, our values. Your core cause is a bridge that stretches from your past or your company’s earliest days into the future. While change may seem a step out into the unknown, if your connection to your core cause is strong enough, you’ll be supported the whole way.

Redefining Authority

I love art, and have always found paintings and sculptures fascinating. And I admire the artists who create them. But when it came to Joan Miró, I got stuck. No matter what, I failed to see the greatness expressed in dots and lines drawn on a white canvas. I once spent four hours listening to an audio guide while walking about the Miró museum, in Barcelona. It didn’t help. I still failed to understand it. And I felt stupid about it, for he is one of the greats—the whole world finds him a genius, paying millions of dollars for his original masterpieces. I am confident you have your own examples of artists or even a period of art you simply fail to understand, and maybe you too feel foolish for it. After all, the authorities say he is great, so there must be something wrong with you.

In a world of external authorities telling us what is good and what is bad, defining what is beautiful and what should be ignored, what is a significant work of art and what is rubbish, we often feel passive and insignificant. However, the seismic changes we are experiencing not just with our physicians but with our clergymen, financial advisors, professors, artists, managers, salespeople, interior designers, parents, and any other force of expertise, are amounting to nothing short of redefining authorities.

In some cases, traditional centralized authorities have disappointed many people with self-serving agendas that erode trust to a point that we simply ignore them or consider their opinion with a healthy dose of suspicion.

We’ve rebelled against traditional centralized authority and have taken the reign of authority away from them. We can do it just as well as they do it. We have the research tools and a network of friends who can advise us. And when we need to, we will consult with the old guard of centralized authority, but we will make our own decisions.

A confluence of several forces brought upon the redefinition of authority. When combining the transparency and abundance of knowledge with the growth of peer-to-peer sharing and the loss of trust in traditional experts, we experience the rise of a new class of experts: us. We are the new authorities.

Authority has been decentralized.

It is distributed to all and any who want to assume it.

It is internal to us.

In the new world of us as the authority, there is a new path to knowledge. We now experience it ourselves and form our own opinions. We use products and services as tools, not as a final destination. They enlighten us and provide us with data points to consider. Our personal experience is the ultimate judge.

But. And there is a big BUT attached to this new class of authority.

Authority comes with responsibility.

As the source of authority, we ought to assume the accountability of our decisions and own the learning process. We can no longer be passive recipients of others’ ideas and decisions.

We, the decision makers, must make the best decisions.

We can no longer afford to sulk about and resist change.

We can no longer play the victim of change.

As the new authorities, we are the change and we must drive it.

The responsibility is now solely on our shoulders.

The new authority ought to proactively drive change.

And when it comes to Miró’s work, I will simply accept that it is absolutely okay for me not to get it. And most of all, as a new authority, I will feel great about that.

The Secret Ingredient of Change Resilience

Why do we do the things we do?

There are two possible reasons: either we want to or we have to. Some of our actions are driven by external rewards such as salaries, bonuses, and other incentives. Many people work because they have to—not because they want to—and their salary provides ample motivation to do whatever their boss wants them to do. But as soon as they win the lottery, they’re out the door.

When we’re intrinsically motivated, on the other hand, we do things we believe are right. We take action based on our internal compasses or value systems: we volunteer, create art, adopt a rescue animal, for instance.

External motivation makes us do things we don’t want to do.

Intrinsic motivation makes us do things we do want to do—and are proud to.

When we look in the mirror, we love the version of us who operates based on an intrinsic motivation. We often loathe the part of ourselves that is extrinsically motivated. Much has been written about the different kinds of motivation (Daniel Pink’s book Drive brought the topic well-deserved attention a few years ago), but here’s what’s most relevant when it comes to embracing the Next: when we introduce the concept of change resilience to people, most mistakenly believe it all boils down to speed. That’s part of it, but people also need to believe that change will make a difference.

For that reason, an intrinsically motivated person will have a far better chance of developing strong change resilience. That person’s pride in making an impact will be a crucial component of his or her ability to adapt to change faster.

The problem is, most organizations are not set up this way. Making room for intrinsic motivation creates a major challenge for organizations because it requires cocreation and what I call “choice-based decisions,” when the traditional organization focuses on mandates and adherence. Most companies have top-down cultures where employees are treated not as independent decision makers but as “process operators.” They might help to execute a strategy—but they don’t own it.

Unfortunately, this kind of top-down structure can be a huge hindrance to companies looking to stay relevant. Leaders need people to be flexible, take ownership. But it’s very difficult to take ownership of something that somebody else did for you.

That’s why we’ve designed a process that makes each and every individual part of the decision process. Even so, whenever we go into a new company, people tell us: “Oh, the decision to change was made from the top.” Our choice-based environment can seem disingenuous.

I’ve observed the demeanor of countless people who think change is being forced upon them. Feeling powerless, they become very passive. They internalize the message: “You don’t want my brain, you just want my hands.” When I begin work with a new company, they rarely believe that they have a choice. They feel that they’re being forced into something—that decisions are being served to them.

In fact, we do give them a choice: a) I provide them with the data points to (I hope) reach the same conclusions as their leaders, and b) I give them the choice to say, “You know what? I’m not staying on board.” We remind people that no is a choice. It is absolutely a choice.

By giving each person the opportunity to make choices based on data, we create an environment where every person is treated with respect. And we’ve seen an excellent success rate as a result. When we’re not truly committed to a change, we will search for shortcuts, complain to anyone who will listen, and make it very clear we don’t believe that we’re capable of transforming ourselves or our companies. We’ll drag our heels, put things off until tomorrow, wait until it seems safer to make a leap. This kind of behavior is the enemy of impact.

Defining Your Core Cause

Your core cause is the reason you exist. The higher purpose that drives you. It is usually defined by the people you serve or who are enjoying the benefit of your efforts: How do your customers use your product or services? What does it empower or inspire them to do? How does it make their lives better or easier? How do you treat your customers and colleagues? How do you solve their problems?

A core cause should not be confused with the tools or processes you use to help others achieve their goals. Your tools can always change and improve. Your core cause will remain constant.

For teachers, a core cause might be to educate and inspire, not the tests and quizzes they give.

For police officers, it is the creation of a sense of safety and security, not the number of arrests they’ve made.

For bankers, it is the creation of financial confidence among their clien...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Foreword
• Introduction—The Next Is Now
• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• With Gratitude
• About the Author
• Copyight