Don't Let Your Organization Become Complacent

As the owner of a business, you must be able to see the fine line between being comfortable with your position and being dangerously complacent. Otherwise, you run risk hindering your organization's growth, or even actively sabotaging its success. 

I want you to think back to how your business operated just a few years ago. How similar was it to the way you currently operate?

The hopeful answer: not very.

Contemplate this: in 2013, mobile technology was just starting to become more commonly utilized for computing than the PC. In 2016, “unified communications” was still a buzzword, and collaborative solutions were experiencing widespread adoption. Just a few short years later, these are some of the basic solutions that all businesses should be leveraging.

Many organizations can easily fall into the trap of believing that their past success guarantees more of the same in the future. This comes with a few operational and behavioral warning signs. For example:

• Are any potential changes or growth opportunities avoided or rebuffed via the use of highly selective facts?
• Do conversations amongst your team skirt around topics like new markets, possible competition, or other developing business opportunities?
• Are failures used to postpone new attempts instead of as learning moments?
• Do meetings usually end in a holding pattern?

These factors all signal that a business has slipped into patterns that are comfortable instead of habits that are operationally sound. “Okay” becomes the standard, as do shortcuts and cut corners. Do you want your organization to be “okay”, or do you want it to be a success?

Luckily, once you’ve identified it, there are many ways to mitigate complacency. Ask yourself a few more questions about your business, its policies, and its culture:

• Is there any way that your processes could be made more efficient?
• Is your service offering a good fit for your current audience? What requirements will they have in the near future?
• Are there any technologies that could soon cause a disruption in your market, or could be used as an invaluable tool?
• How engaged are your workers?

Many of these questions will require a big-picture perspective of both your business and your industry. Macro-views like these can be difficult, especially when one is accustomed to the micro-perspective into a single business. Answering these questions on your own will prove to be challenging as well, and then you still have to resolve any issues that they unearth.

Macro Systems has plenty of experience with managing the technology that businesses rely on to be successful and efficient. While up-to-date technology isn’t the only thing required to circumvent becoming complacent in business, it is a good start, and one that we can help with. Reach out to us at 703-359-9211 to learn more.