Adapting in business needs a positive mindset and staying power, but isn’t there more? Many businesses face an uncertain future due to disruption and changes in the world around them. They’re concerned about adapting to a new way of doing business, using technology, and wondering if they’ll make it through.
In this article I wanted to share some valuable insights about adapting in business through the lens of a recent garden project. Turning an impossible dream into a reality.
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Seeing the potential
The key to adapting in business is seeing the potential. There is potential in every business. The challenge is seeing your business through fresh eyes and recognising that value. Lockdown was gradually easing with the chance of inviting a few friends round to meet outside. The problem was that we didn’t have a nice outdoor seating area. All we had was the wood from an old shed set aside ready for the tip. We saw the potential of using those raw ingredients to create an inviting area of the garden.
Creating a vision
Adapting to business change needs a clear vision. That vision will help you get to where you want to be. It was a spring day as we stood in our back garden. My daughter shared her vision of a gorgeous seating area to entertain friends. She showed me a photo of a seating area from a magazine. We gazed at the image nodding our heads wistfully and repeatedly saying together “Yeah, I can visualise it!”. We burst out laughing as we slowly turned around and looked at the sorrowful sight of all the old wood from our shed. But it didn’t stop our ambitions for outdoor seating that was aesthetically beautiful.
Creativity
You need creative thinking to adapt in business. Faced with the remains of an old shed, we knew we needed to get creative. We created a safe space to develop ideas and play with them. Undeterred we started to plan and build. Our creative juices spurring us forward, learning about galvanised screws, coach bolts and brackets. Much experimentation, and we laughed when things didn’t quite work out. We were comfortable with failure. Realising that we didn’t have anything to lose as the old shed was going to the tip anyway. However, in business the fear of scarcity seeps in and can slow down ideas for moving the business forward.
Keep going!
Any change takes effort and adapting in business isn’t easy. Rachel had a deadline for when she wanted to invite friends over. We were building in our spare time and there were days when it was very cold and wet, and at times we felt discouraged. At the start it was harder as neither of us had the skills and it was difficult to see progress. However, our joint vision, creativity and enthusiasm kept us going. To our surprise and delight, several weeks later we had our beautiful seating area built from our old shed!
Success
When you can successfully adapt in business, you’ll have a more certain and fulfilling future. As for our outdoor seating area, we made the deadline, and Rachel had a wonderful evening with her friends. It’s a haven for Rogan and me too, as we’ve enjoyed breaks and mealtimes outside in the sun.
Finally
At KR5 Consulting, we support leaders in creating and delivering their vision for an exciting business future. If you’d like to have a chat, give me a call on 01344 266567 or contact me on shounsell@kr5consulting.com or DM on LinkedIn to start a chat.
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If you’d like to explore the ideas in this article further or need help and advice, please contact Samantha at shounsell@kr5consulting.com – to arrange an informal chat.
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