Doing Nothing is an Option… Or is it?

Matthew Furlong

The book “Good to Great” is filled with Case Study after Case Study of organizations that faced a critical inflection point about whether to change something that was working or stay the course.

Many companies didn’t recognize the need to change (Best Buy, Kodak, etc..) with the ever-changing technological landscape. The internet is littered with these stories – this blog too.

It’s harder to find success stories for some reason. In some cases, companies seem to get lucky with their timing. Still, my favorite example of an organization having some ‘guile’ is Charles Schwab – a Financial Services organization based in North America. Perhaps I’m biased because I worked there for six years. But, Schwab saw the internet as something that would change the face of trading and chose to do something about it. The easy thing would have been to ignore the online shift, as the company was already doing well. ‘Do nothing’ would have been easy to sell to the investors. Instead, Schwab invested heavily in moving its model and business to the internet. For more, read this article.

The change was painful, the risk was incredibly high, and the results took a while to be recognized but reflecting now – it was genius. They had a simple goal, kept to it, and succeeded.

Digital Transformation may appear more accessible because so many companies are talking about it, but it is no less risky. The best Transformational efforts learn from what succeeded with Schwab — start with a clear vision or goal, maintain a laser focus on that goal, and apply the resources, commitment, and patience to see the goal to the end. That decision was not easy; it was not a minor investment – but the risk not only met the original goal but created the next category of brokers.

So — What happens if you do nothing?

If you really want to know – read this post about Southwest Airlines