Change can no longer be controlled

Many companies change management approach attempts to control change

Many company’s change management approach attempts to control change. They attempt to manage risk, resist change or control the direction of the change.

This stood them in good stead for a long while. Before the web they could shape markets, define style and taste and tell consumers what to like. They had the budgets and reach to speak to consumers in a way nobody else could. The web has changed all of that. Everybody has a voice and that means change cannot be controlled and it cannot be resisted.

Music industry resisted this change

Take for example how the music industry responded to Napster. Napster showed consumers that they didn’t have to go to stores to buy their music or buy entire albums for the sake of one song they liked.

Of course the music industry resisted this change. It threatened their business model and so they went after and eventually closed down Napster.

The problem was that consumers had seen an alternative. While they may have closed Napster they had not stopped the tide of change. Because they failed to adapt ultimately Apple could step in and launch iTunes. The result was that retail brands like HMV and Tower Records went into receivership.

The next wave is on its way

Now streaming music services, such as Spotify, Deezer and Rdio, are fast reshaping the music business and likely to account for substantial revenue growth in years to come. The rise of digital streaming music services is forcing a sea change in how the industry is creating, producing, marketing and distributing music.

Change can no longer be managed

Change can no longer be managed, resisted or controlled, but it can be ridden. When it comes to the rapid and often unpredictable nature of change in the digital realm, a new approach to change management is required. Instead of trying to “manage“ change we need to start riding it: So why not disrupt your own business before someone else does?

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Change can no longer be controlled — https://www.torbenrick.eu/t/r/ygr
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