Importance of Change and Business

Why Do We Fight Against that Which is Good
For the first time in my career I made a real estate agent very upset. She was so offended that she made it a point to hang out in a room full of people just so she could walk up to me and tell me that she did not like what I had said and that she thought I was very rude. I’m not sure what she was upset about. Was it my message or the way I delivered it? Either way, I did not feel the need to apologize. Rather, I feel that I would have more of a reason to say “I’m sorry” if I was to later hear about the demise of her business because she did not fully comprehend the importance of using technology in her business.

Why do we sometimes fight so aggressively against change? Because sometimes it is very difficult for us to realize that we need to change. This is primarily because we are programmed to assume that practices that are around the longest are inherently superior. In fact, there was a study conducted in 2010 by the Department of Psychology at The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas that discovered some intriguing points.With Age Comes More than Wisdom – An Enhanced Belief of Superiority

• People who were told that acupuncture had been in existence for 2,000 years expressed more favorable attitudes toward it than those who were told it existed for 250 years
• Participants who saw a painting described as having been painted in 1905 had a greater affinity for it than people who saw the same painting described as created in 2005
• They appreciated the appearance of a tree described as being 4,500 years old more than did those who thought the same tree just 500 years old

A Blockbuster Blunder
I wonder if the former CEO of Blockbuster had the same mindset when the not-so-well-known Netflix approached them with an offer of sale for $50 million. Blockbuster turned down the deal simply because of bravado – they believed that if anyone was going to revolutionize the industry, that it would of course be them. I honestly believe that they also lacked foresight – simply because at the time, their model was tremendously successful. Like the old saying goes:

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

And as a result, today Blockbuster has filed bankruptcy and their remaining stores are closing one by one. Netflix, on the other hand, has a market capitalization of more than $19 billion.