When it comes to change, people inevitably fall into one of two categories:
- those who resist change or
- those who adopt change.
How is it that one thing can be thought of in two totally opposing ways? Why is it that change is an uphill battle for some and a game changer for others?
At Orbis, we strongly believe in adopting change. We’ll share why in a minute, but first, let’s talk about change in a more general sense.
The Truth About Change
Change, as defined by the dictionary, is simply another word for “different.”
Synonyms include:
- Adapt
- Alter
- Evolve
- Exchange
- Improve
- Revise
- Shift
- Transform
The truth about change is that – like it or not – it happens.
When change is ignored, detested, and fought against, the business can’t help but feel the devastating effects. When change is embraced, managed, and driven, it becomes far easier to accept, control, and ignite change, and business becomes the beneficiary.
The fact is, the road to success is always under construction, and change is merely the “under construction” sign. Ultimately, YOU are the catalyst for change, and your business goals are the shiny new pavement on which every decision rides. Of course, at some point, things will change again. You’ll have the choice to patch, repair, and cobble things together, or blow them up and rebuild bigger, better, stronger.
Steady-Growth Profitability
While the forestry industry may be thought of by some as slow-changing (what with acres upon acres of long-storied properties rife with aged and revered timberlands), nothing could be further from the truth.
Why, in the last few decades alone, we’ve experienced a 180-degree turn from traditional forest ownership to investment-based ownership. Couple that with explosive technological advances (think data in the cloud (LIVE)/location intelligence), and it’s easy to see that timberland investments are not only alive and well but poised for strong growth and long-term success.
An Analogy
Let’s say you operate on from a “Let’s keep the status quo” position or an “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. Your operations, information systems, inventory, personnel – everything, for that matter – will continually have to retrofit anything new into everything old.
The result will likely be a mish-mash of scattered information and irrelevant data, some of which lives in your employees’ heads rather than having been captured and recorded for shared benefit. Making matters worse, this will all be fed by outmoded technologies and under-performing systems.
Instead of singing all the way to the profitability bank, your unchanged melody could sound a lot like a piggy on its way to market; and that would be tragic.
Change According to Socrates
So, what can you do to ensure you’re not left standing on the tracks when the change-train comes barreling on through, as it inevitably will?
You can do what the philosopher Socrates so wisely advised:
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
Let “building the new” start here and now with upgrading your core systems.
At Orbis, we can help. Our Forest Information Portal (FIP) is a secure, cloud-based application that changes with you, your business goals, the industry, technology, and everything in between.
Remember how we told you we are adopters of change? FIP is why.
We’ve seen how FIP has continued to help our clients thwart potential information disasters. We’ve watched as FIP has transformed operations and corporate functions, making them instantly scalable. We’ve witnessed first-hand how live access to the most up-to-date information leads to strong growth potential and better profitability.
We could go on and about FIP, but we’ll let you call us for that.
The point is this:
- Change happens.
- Change won’t wait.
- Invite change or kowtow to it – the choice is yours.
So, how do see yourself/company – a resistor or adopter? Share your thoughts in the comments.
