Change: A New Year’s Dive Into Transformation

[00:00:19] Happy New Year everyone! It's 1st of January 2025.

[00:00:24] Why do you have so much energy?

[00:00:27] What did you say Scott?

[00:00:29] I said why do you have so much energy?

[00:00:31] Oh well I've got a few glasses of this champagne inside me so you know

[00:00:38] uh for the-

[00:00:40] I'm Andy by the way and uh

[00:00:42] You know that for those people who are just listening to this let me describe Andy's outfit

[00:00:48] at the moment. I mean he is decked out in a black on black tuxedo wearing uh a lovely blue bow tie

[00:00:57] and he is still pouring the champagne uh to celebrate with all of you right now. Happy New Year Andy.

[00:01:06] Happy New Year Scott. It's a pleasure to be here again and a pleasure to start a new year on

[00:01:11] the 1st of January with you. And all our listeners of course.

[00:01:18] Uh do you want to keep going with the-

[00:01:20] Oh I can do I can do this is the Tea and Timbits Podcast Global Perspectives on Business Development

[00:01:25] to help you prosper in the new year. And beyond.

[00:01:34] So as we kick off the new year we are going to be talking about change and we are going to

[00:01:40] focus on that because everybody wants to have a new year's resolution of some sort and kick off the new

[00:01:47] year with some type of incremental or dramatic change. The problem is most people go for dramatic

[00:01:53] change over incremental change and most people fail. Today we're going to talk about that particular

[00:01:58] thing and we're going to identify the need for change but before we do that Scott do you have a

[00:02:03] story for us? First of all I want to congratulate you for getting through the intro to the episode. Well done.

[00:02:11] Um and and I I actually don't know if most people go for uh dramatic change um uh and maybe that's just

[00:02:21] a cultural thing uh you can often get criticized for not for for just doing slight gentle incremental

[00:02:28] change uh too much and not um uh taking a a page out of the other playbook. Anyway we'll get into that.

[00:02:36] Um uh I I was gonna just share my own personal reflection on this time of year and and this moment

[00:02:44] um um professionally uh looking ahead into 2025 and it's around about this time two years ago when

[00:02:56] chat GPT was it was you know catching fire um it it had launched a little bit before that but we're

[00:03:04] talking like we're right on the the the entryway here um and and at the time like I and a lot of other

[00:03:13] people thought oh my god you know we're our lives are going to be utterly upended by the end of this year

[00:03:21] and here we are two years later and I think everybody um has got a better appreciation for

[00:03:27] the power efficiency prosperity that it it can bring the the risks the concerns um the the trepidation

[00:03:35] that that comes with that um as well but we're not seeing a um crisis of disruption um and I still

[00:03:49] think that's coming I still think that um it's not about if it's when um and so that got me thinking

[00:03:58] about sort of how we need to be postured for change and what we need to do about um you know changing and

[00:04:10] um and I in this case um being able to be ready for it to embrace it to be curious about it to

[00:04:19] integrate it into our work to offer it to our clients to support the technology is all very much what what

[00:04:27] you know we have had discussions and and formally said yeah I mean it might seem like an obvious

[00:04:31] decision to make but yes like this has to be you know something that becomes part of what we do and

[00:04:37] how we understand and what our delivery in our in our service but it can be very distracting at the same

[00:04:45] time it can be used for a wealth of things and as soon as you start entering the ai conversation and

[00:04:51] the and the um and even just sort of the thought leadership about it um people want you to help

[00:04:59] them use it for anything that they that they do and then I think the question becomes well wait a

[00:05:05] minute are we are we becoming an ai agency or are we you know um still a digital experience agency

[00:05:13] um and I think it's really um compelling to try and follow the bouncing ball like oh yeah like this is

[00:05:20] what everybody's talking about and everybody wants to talk about it problem is people don't know how

[00:05:25] to spend money against it they don't know what value it's going to bring they don't know what the

[00:05:29] disruption is going to be they they it's hard still to to some some cases are obvious and easy but but not

[00:05:36] not all so the the bringing this all back to our theme at the moment is yes we need to change in order

[00:05:45] to have the right posture embrace this and be good at presenting it to our market but we can't abandon

[00:05:54] everything else in the and and what's really provided quality of delivery that we're that we're known for

[00:06:02] it if we're going to embrace it offer it support it it's got to be in that lane because there's going

[00:06:07] to be so many lanes that this is using and that's something that I think we've we just got to be really

[00:06:12] confident clear about internally as much as probably even more so than than our external posture so

[00:06:20] anyway that just caught me thinking about like how do you think about change how do you how do you decide

[00:06:23] when to change what to change how fast to change um and we'll get into it but I think it sort of

[00:06:29] involves um establishing some of those filters and ground rules for yourself and that was a long story

[00:06:36] but there you go that's nobody it was a very relevant story because you're completely right

[00:06:41] that everybody thought that there was going to be this dramatic change with the introduction of chat

[00:06:47] gpc and other ai systems that spilled off the back of it but that's not what happened what's happening is a

[00:06:54] an incremental change so it ties in really well with uh today's episode and I think that's actually

[00:07:01] both a positive and a negative thing as well because people don't necessarily pay so much attention

[00:07:05] attention now to how much ai is taking over their lives and how much of a you know of a reliance

[00:07:13] people are having on it so you know and I'm gonna just quickly jump into the wording I know it was

[00:07:19] just off the cuff but like taking over your life I don't I don't see it that way I think it has potential to

[00:07:26] like if you're not I think it's supporting enhancing optimizing enabling as opposed to quote unquote taking taking over

[00:07:34] I know you didn't mean it in that way but I just to again sort of share the the place where my mind's

[00:07:40] been at lately it's it's more about how can how can this technology and then therefore different changes

[00:07:46] in general support enhance adapt and sometimes they're they're defensive um and you do need to you know

[00:07:54] be ready for it to take over your life or court um or defend against them um what uh what do you think

[00:08:03] from a from a business perspective is um appropriate for identifying if change is necessary

[00:08:13] well I think I think you need to understand what it is that you're trying to achieve

[00:08:19] that's the important thing you know it's it's all very well let's stick to the new year resolution

[00:08:24] thing it's all very well to go oh I need to get fit I'm going to get a gym membership right

[00:08:29] but because you don't have a clear necessary goal or your goal is far too big and you haven't got little

[00:08:36] steps on the way to get there what typically happens is people sign up for gym memberships in January

[00:08:41] and by February a lot of those people have stopped going and by March April time there's only about

[00:08:47] five percent left who are actually still going on a continuous basis right and the gym companies love

[00:08:52] it because you know people keep paying for it because they don't want to admit that they've given up on it

[00:08:56] um so they keep paying for the service and uh they keep uh you know subscribing to the gym they never

[00:09:01] actually go but what's happening there is that they tried for a dramatic change change to their life

[00:09:08] change to their routine change to the outcome and it failed because they hadn't got incremental

[00:09:13] changes on the way so in my honest opinion it's really important that no matter whether you identify

[00:09:19] it's just a small thing and that you can do it over time or if it's a big thing and you need to take big

[00:09:24] action now and then follow up with an increment incremental changes in routines in supporting things

[00:09:30] in order to make sure that that stays implemented is really important at the very beginning right um

[00:09:37] um i i've got a friend who has a food company they make one specific uh product uh and um he

[00:09:49] made it out of his kitchen for a long long time with a with a friend of his and it was his mom's kind

[00:09:56] of family recipe and whatnot and on and on it goes and then sold it into a few you know bars and restaurants

[00:10:03] and and then it sort of locally kind of caught uh a following uh and then you get it into sort of one

[00:10:11] food service distributor and then and then and then and then and then all of a sudden it's on the national

[00:10:18] catalog and everybody's got it in their kitchen and and where did this thing come from and so his

[00:10:25] his phrase is it's the longest overnight success you've ever heard of because it sounds like a dramatic

[00:10:32] change all of a sudden everybody knows what it is and they never did before but that's not because

[00:10:39] it it it came after this intense huddle and we're going to invent a new thing and we're going to go

[00:10:46] and launch it it was years in the in the making the development um and and to build up that momentum

[00:10:54] so when you are looking at a problem um you know you you started off at the beginning of the episode

[00:11:03] saying like most people opt for dramatic change and and and fail um let me challenge you on that do

[00:11:09] do you think that that's actually what what happens um and is there a process for deciding whether or not

[00:11:17] a big change quick you know um hard rate turn is is warranted or um is it always more prudent to um

[00:11:28] crawl walk run and then all of a sudden you're going to look back and be like yeah of course we needed to

[00:11:33] do this i think it is incredibly common that if someone realizes a change because as creatures as you know

[00:11:44] humans we resist change we like being comfortable so if we have decided that something is not working

[00:11:52] and we need to make a change that first instinct is a dramatic change yeah we need to stop doing this

[00:11:59] we need to do more of that we need to you know get fit we need to you know stop selling this product

[00:12:06] we need to stop working with that customer it's a fear of being uncomfortable or it's a feeling of

[00:12:14] being uncomfortable that forces us to recognize that change needs to happen but in order for us to

[00:12:19] recognize the change needs to happen it often needs to be something quite dramatic otherwise someone else

[00:12:24] from the outside needs to guide us on that journey which is where sales people come in to help us realize

[00:12:29] that maybe we can improve the way that we're doing things or change the way that we're doing things

[00:12:33] incrementally over time i think the problem is that a lot of people once they realize they need to make

[00:12:38] a change and they've had that dramatic mindset of changing that's where they stop thinking about it

[00:12:43] and they just go right we're going to do that and they take action towards the dramatic change

[00:12:48] rather than taking those steps to decide whether or not a dramatic change or an incremental change is

[00:12:53] necessary and if it is dramatic then how is that going to be supported and how is that going to be

[00:12:59] implemented over time because even a dramatic change needs incremental changes to take place in order

[00:13:07] to make sure that it's effective and efficient and stays uh you know actually in place so i i i listen i

[00:13:13] totally agree you've got me thinking just in the moment here you know either way

[00:13:20] a change without the plan is absolutely foolhardy and just completely you know bound for failure right

[00:13:29] and so even if you in you you there's high urgency high demand high intent you know high roi the

[00:13:38] faster you make the change i you always need to build as robust a plan as possible and so you know if

[00:13:49] you're in a real emergency situation if time is absolutely genuinely of the essence here still scrapbook

[00:13:57] something sketch out something for like okay well we're gonna do this and then we're gonna do this

[00:14:01] and then we're gonna do this and then we're gonna get to here and then we're gonna validate and then

[00:14:03] we're gonna go

[00:14:06] if you but by doing it that way

[00:14:10] and let's say you're not in the emergency situation you can then

[00:14:16] turn the urgency dial you can turn the speed dial you can you can say okay well let's let's

[00:14:21] still do it in this sequence and if we if if we can we'll be a little bit more patient intentional

[00:14:28] and and and considerate about it and we'll do each step sort of in a in a conscientious manner and

[00:14:35] we'll and we'll check and validate as we go and we'll and we'll confirm the next step of the plan is

[00:14:41] the still the most appropriate one and and and and whatnot but if it's going well

[00:14:46] and if then then it will naturally kind of accelerate or or gain gain momentum yeah um

[00:14:55] and so i think if you approach it that way from the perspective of like listen i you know i gotta

[00:15:01] slow down to go fast um and uh and think of it that way then uh then what might need to be a dramatic

[00:15:08] change you can you can um you can pursue it you can start it incrementally but then

[00:15:18] with a plan to pick up speed as you go yeah yeah that's right and and i mean exactly as you say it's

[00:15:26] you know if there's like some sort of i don't know market shifts or there's some competitive

[00:15:31] pressure because your competitors are going off in a new direction and they're winning all of your

[00:15:34] clients or you know or even if you just recognize that your business is stagnated or something

[00:15:39] you know that these things mean that something's wrong and you need to make a dramatic change

[00:15:44] right but there as you say there needs to be that clear plan in place about how you're actually going

[00:15:49] to do that because if you just go oh we're going to suddenly we're going to stop selling individual

[00:15:54] sales we're going to suddenly switch to a subscription model because that's what all our competitors are doing

[00:15:58] it's going to fail because you need to do it over time you need to have a plan in place yes it may

[00:16:03] be that you need to act quickly on it cut some corners and get it in place or run it alongside

[00:16:08] your existing business you need to make the plan though so that you can decide what's right for you

[00:16:13] what's right for your business and what's going to be successful well said and i can't i have to also

[00:16:19] just say that i don't think i have felt um more this way in any other year than this one about looking

[00:16:29] ahead into 2025 about mentally anticipating the fact that i'm gonna need to be ready for for more

[00:16:40] change than ever before i just you know maybe i'll be proven wrong hopefully um but it it feels to me

[00:16:48] like there's just so much um so much happening on the tech space so much happening geopolitically

[00:16:57] economically uh and and it's going to we don't know exactly where it's going to come from so i think

[00:17:05] the posture and the mindset to expect it is also going to be helpful it's i don't think we're going to

[00:17:12] be able to react and and change to everything and certainly not perfectly every time but i think

[00:17:20] just thinking at the moment that i shouldn't be too surprised when some of these pressures start to

[00:17:28] show up uh in the in in the in the coming year i know that always happens but it just feels like

[00:17:33] 2025's kind of got a few uh surprises it's going to uh bring forward and i don't think it's just

[00:17:39] exclusively in the tech space that that's going to happen i think you know the all of the businesses

[00:17:44] around the world now are relying in one way or another on tech and you know ai is going to contribute

[00:17:50] to that and that's going to change the landscape of the tech that's available and how the tech works

[00:17:55] how the tech interacts with their customers how you know even widget manufacturers you know how they

[00:18:01] interact with their business partners and and so on because it's not all about business to consumer

[00:18:06] business to business as well it's all going to have an impact and everybody's going to be impacted

[00:18:11] in one way or another and we need to be prepared for it you know that sounds very dramatic and scary

[00:18:15] but you know in a realistic way it's uh it's good you know change change happens and it has happened

[00:18:20] all the time and that's why we are where we are now and that's why we're able to have these

[00:18:25] conversations freely over the internet and talk to each other um in different parts of the world so

[00:18:30] there you go well you brought us in andy you get to take us out wonderful well if anyone wants to

[00:18:37] get in touch and find out what champagne i'm drinking where my suit was made and uh any other questions

[00:18:43] that may be relevant for this episode please do get in touch go to tea and timbits.com where you will

[00:18:48] find many ways to reach out to us to listen to old episodes and to follow some new ones thank you

[00:18:55] very much scott thanks andy thanks everybody happy new year cheers