Our results are amazing, so tough shit

When your company is making money and business is good and enough of the team is happy, it’s hard to make change a priority.

Because why fold a winning hand? Why shake things up when they already work enough to be successful?

Companies are like people in that respect. If they don’t see a compelling reason to step outside of their comfort zone, they won’t just do it for their health. Organizations are primed for preserving the status quo, and if they don’t have to change, they won’t.

This stubbornness can becomes frustrating for the customers, since they are the ones on the front lines taking it on the chin.

Like when the fashion client at my old innovation studio complained that our service didn’t surprise and delight their team like some of the other agencies they worked with in the past. Our company founder told me, well, our results are amazing, so, tough shit.

He wasn’t wrong. That brand hired us to relaunch their product and activate their customer base, and that’s exactly what we did. Which is why we could get away with mediocre service. Scoreboard don’t lie.

Software developers have a running joke for this:

You can have it fast, good or cheap, pick two.

And understandably, running a company is extremely hard and exhausting, so the idea of not fixing something that ain’t broke is an attractive one. There are simply too many competing priorities.

But it does make you wonder. Will something big enough knock you out of your complacency? What has to happen for the company to realize they’re a victim of their own success?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
When will the price of staying the same outweigh the cost of cha nge?