Behind the Scenes at Global-Roam

(Photo: sloth_rider)

I recently attended an IIB event entitled Building the Resilient Company. The purpose of the event (straight from the program) was to provide insights into the current economic cycle, the challenges to survive and the strategies to prepare for an economic recovery. To sum: we are in the shit, how do we get out?

The answer was fantastic. Craig James (CommSec Chief Economist) took a look at the current economic climate. He explained that we were recovering from the GFC but more importantly the human factor would always be in play. Emotions rule in the human realm so we can expect the ups and down to continue until Skynet. The question then changes from “how do we survive an economic meltdown?” to “how do we survive in an ever-changing environment?”.

Be irrational. Trust your instincts. Unleash your passion on the world. Bask in the glory of small business. Don’t settle for a mediocre business teetering on the brink of survival. Instead of turtling in the corner, put your gloves on and punch your way into the halls of glory. You have the speed and flexibility to outmaneuver the lumbering hulk of big business. Plan how to cope if he catches you with an uppercut but keep exploring the possibilities and you just might finish with a gogoplata. Col Chandler (CEO Proton Consulting) is a legend.

Now your budding ideas have been nurtured into a thriving business. You have broken through the first wall only to fall face-first into the second. Evan Fortune (Vision6) explained the slump he recently got out of. Vision6 was spinning their wheels, enjoying their success but not really going anywhere. People were confused because the business could no longer operate like it had in it’s infancy. It was time to ask some tough questions and focus on the essence of the business. Who are we? Who are our customers and what do they want? The process resulted in a simpler product and gave staff a clear and simple focus.

You have become your own worst enemy: the lumbering hulk of big business. Glenn Wightwick (IBM Director amongst a nerd-envy inducing list of accolades) demonstrated how one of the world’s biggest companies takes advantages of the ever-changing technological landscape. Open source could be perceived as a threat to IBM’s proprietary systems. Instead of going on the defensive, IBM have embraced the open source movement and use it to provide great value to their business. (If you ever meet Glenn, ask him about his very cool house.)

For all businesses great and small, the message seems clear: change. The world is always doing it so you must play along to survive. Change your ideas, your rationale, your approach. Change your processes and culture. Don’t be afraid of change, instead leverage it to your advantage. If you are not rolling with the punches it’s going to be a long, hard fight.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 1:38 pm and is filed under Event Review, Vision. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.