It's time to fear the rack

Change is inevitable in today's work environment, especially for marketers. Information is disseminated at an incredible speed. Feedback is almost instantaneous. Consumer preferences and needs change rapidly. The only constant in today's marketing environment is change. Yet, in business, especially large businesses, we fight change. We exhaust ourselves trying to maintain the status quo. It's known, it's comfortable, it keeps most people employed.

But maintaining the status quo doesn't lead to long term growth. It leads to long-term erosion. Maintaining the status quo allows for other companies to move quickly, and take advantage of the ever changing marketplace.

So, why are so many people in businesses afraid of change? In his book, Survival is Not Enough, Seth Godin posits that those that fight to maintain the status quo face two different ways to "die", death by guillotine and death by rack. Death by guillotine is swift, painful. It's the idea that one big failure, and everything is gone. Fear of death this way looms large, and people avoid it. The thing is, no one fears death by the rack, a long slow death that is often more painful.

This idea really stuck with me. Not because of its morbidity, but because it really opened my eyes. In marketing, how often do we use the term "thinking outside the box"? It's the idea of breaking from the norm, but how many people are still grasping the box? Rather than going big they step outside the norm, but no so much as anything appears to be radical. But to a greater extent, how many managers drive this behavior? It's the fear of the guillotine, the idea that if I try or propose something radical, and it fails, my livelihood is on the line.

In order to be a successful marketer, not only do you need to overcome the fear of the guillotine, you need a support structure that encourages you to take those chances and those risks. In his book, Godin sites an example at FedEx. A failed idea ended up costing the company nearly $300 million. This was an opportunity for FedEx to drive the fear of the guillotine so deep into the culture that no one would ever dream of taking big risks again. Instead, they used it is a positive example. It galvanized the employees. It told them that if you are passionate about an idea or an approach, we will back you up. It encouraged them to take risks, and in the long run has lead to many rewards.

As marketers, in order to be successful, and to help drive our business, we need to not only step outside the box, but we need to get off the table, out of the room, and down on the street. We need to look for opportunities to embrace the change that we see around us and take advantage of the opportunities it presents. And, we need a support structure that allows us to do this.

Change is inevitable, it's how we, and our organizations handle it that will make all the difference in the long term. It's time to fear the rack more than the guillotine.