My stumbling - everything changes EXCEPT one thing...

As the old saying goes, “the only constant is changed”. Technology and the Information Age is driving innovation and change faster than I think we can fully comprehend.

When I was in my youth, my parents would send me on my athletic ventures with a “pay phone” credit card. The process to call home was to dial the number on the card and punch in the code on the card to fund my calls home to give updates on the various tournaments I played in. Fast forward only 20 years...

Speaking of pay phones, I stumbled into this dinosaur exhibit as we were getting off our plane from

Canada Sunday night:

Wow, has the world changed and it appears to only catching more momentum!

Technological changes drive new markets and make what used to be robust, profit centers become irrelevant. I’m thinking Kodak, Blockbuster, pay phones, etc.

 Everything changes BUT we are able to control and find solace in one thing that will NOT change. Our VALUES (i.e The Core). The foundation in which we serve our people, serve our markets, and serve our community can remain CONSTANT.

Jim Collins (author of Good To Great) has eloquently described the reality of what leaders must do is embrace the Ying & the Yang of what must change (“stimulate progress”) and what must NOT change (“preserve the core”).

Thomas J. Watson of IBM put it well: “The only sacred cow sacred cow in an organization should be it’s basic philosophy of doing business…”

Everything else…. Progress!

Cheers to stumbling forward!