What’s extinct in your company?

Linda LaitalaBusinessLeave a Comment

 

One of the most innovative scientific ideas today is reviving extinct species: the mammoth, the laughing owl, and the carrier pigeon.  In all, 63 species have gone extinct since 1700.   

As I pondered the idea of extinction and change, I made a list of some things that have changed in the world.

(These are off the top of my head, I’m sure you can think of more.) •Three-martini lunch
•A real person answering the phone
•Fax machines
•35MM camera
•“While You Were Out” message pads
•Rolodex
•Green eyeshades
•Typewriters
•Yellow Pages / Phone Books
•Checks
•Dial-up Internet
•Having to quit your job when you got married (women)
•Having to quit your job when you got pregnant (women)
•Nylons with seams (mostly women)

•Stores that close at 6 PM
•Stores that are closed on Sunday
There are many reasons things change: newer technology, lower costs, “faster-better-cheaper,” convenience and profitability. Some people love change. They embrace it and never look back.  Others resist change, taking comfort in the way things are.

My mentor and friend, Tom Minor, commented at one of our recent roundtable meetings that at the crux of change is this:  “Most people won’t change until the cost of NOT changing is greater than the cost of changing.”

That about sums it up, don’t you think?

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