Over the last two years the terms “unprecedented” and “pivoting” have come up so many times that most of us are getting tired of hearing them. However, the reality is that constant change is all around us and addressing it can seem like a never-ending game of ping-pong with balls coming our way at rapid speed.
Pivoting has become the go-to way not only in business but all aspects of our lives. With no unforeseeable end ahead – or even what some call a new normal, how do you stay positive and adapt? How can you plan when you don’t know what’s to come?
While some are taken out of the game simply because they are overwhelmed or confused, most successful and popular brands we know and love have faced these unprecedented times before and were able to thrive despite the challenges.
Indeed, there is a recipe to how they’ve managed to rise to the top through effective pivoting. Here are three simple concepts that will help you to build the most important trait that is needed among constant changes in your business: Resilience.
Embrace changes and keep making decisions
As obvious as it may seem, embracing change is the first step to harnessing your power, yet it’s proven to be one of the most difficult, especially considering that as human beings most of us love a certain level of predictability and sense of certainty. Having said that, whole-heartedly embracing change and getting curious about the possibilities the changes might bring will set you apart from most who are unfortunately unable to adapt.
During times of change and disruption, even the smallest decisions made have the potential to leaving a lasting impact and ripple effect that is often out of our control. If uncertainty got you paralyzed while things still moving fast, decisions might be made for you by market conditions and resulting circumstances, which may or may not be in your best interest. On the contrary, by embracing and leaning into the challenge of an ever-changing environment, often does such attitude have a profound positive effect on your self-confidence and ability to problem-solve moving forward.
Acknowledge wins
Along with embracing change around us, acknowledging wins – small or big – helps us to redirect our focus away from the problems or obstacles at hand that may seem too large to overcome to what’s working well or turning in our favor at any given moment. Research has shown that our perception and awareness of what’s working has a fundamental impact on our experience and outlook, hence taking baby steps and pivoting in that direction can make all the difference. All too often do we drown in the hits that we are taking and how hard it may be to get back on our feet when our resilience is tested but acknowledging even small wins will ultimately lead to the overall success of whatever we are facing and create momentum and a positive reaction. Make “nothing is too small” your motto, because remember, small wins are still that – wins.
Stay optimistic
Combining both the embracing of change and acknowledging our wins requires a very important key to building resilience, and that is optimism. Looking at your business and its success as something that is still possible even when it doesn’t seem like it at the time. There are numerous examples of companies whose leaders couldn’t see the opportunity that laid in the depth of change because they believed their time was over and failed to adapt.
Having said that, remaining optimistic does not mean you turn a blind eye to the negative changes happening around your organization, it is the ability to look past them and think further into a clear path that brings opportunity amid change and losses. Look at brands that started doing something completely different and adapted over time, for example Netflix who used to sell DVD’s exclusively. They embraced the change of streaming and digital services and looked ahead to create their business as we know it today. Although the future is always unsure to some extent, those companies that embrace the change, celebrate wins and stay optimistic significantly change the odds of being the ones that come out on top.
Combining these three factors will give you a simple yet profound recipe for what I like to call “building your resilience muscle”. As is true with any other muscle you strengthen, it takes time to build up and withstand great challenges. So ask yourself, do you believe there will ever be a better time to start building and believing in your resilience? Since the here and now is the only time we control, I encourage you to start today and take control so that you can thrive and come out even stronger on the other side.
