THE CHAMELEON
During the press conference to announce Nokia being acquired by Microsoft, Nokia CEO ended his speech saying this “we didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost”. Upon saying that, all his management team, himself included, teared sadly.
Nokia has been a respectable company. They didn’t do anything wrong in their business, however, the world changed too fast. Their opponents were too powerful.
They missed out on learning, they missed out on changing, and thus they lost the opportunity at hand to make it big. Not only did they miss the opportunity to earn big money, they lost their chance of survival.
Recently, St Stithians Boys’ Preparatory School have been through a number of changes. From changes in Leadership, the daily schedule, to the introduction of new staff and a new Extra Murals Programme.
Many would ask why? Surely things as they are, are working. Running smoothly. Efficiently. Like a well-oiled machine.
The reality of the situation is that unless we choose to change, to evolve, to change our “colours” we may become redundant.
Whilst the world is changing, we choose to remain secure in our thinking because “it works”. Wrong.
St Stithians Boys’ Preparatory pride ourselves on being at the cutting edge of what is trending. If we fail to make brave decisions based on what is best for the boys under our care, we stagnate.
The Leadership of the Boys’ Preparatory School have come under severe “fire” for the changes made.
In World War I, soldiers in the trenches were often expected to “go over the top” to engage the enemy in their own trench.
One such story from the war talks about the soldiers stumbling about in the inky darkness, only to be given slight reprieves by the light “provided” from the explosion of bombs.
Upon reaching the enemy trench, mist often hung over the lip making it almost impossible to see what you were jumping into.
This analogy is not unlike our current “change” situation. Yes, there may be some stumbling in the dark as we forge into unknown territory. There may be some instances of a light reprieve when situations work. Mist may continue to hang over certain aspects.
Jump! And jump the soldiers did, with swiftness and proficiency. Brave. No doubt.
And it’s in that brave leap forward that the learning takes place. The outcome achieved (or partially achieved) and the evolution begins.
For those who love the ocean, learning how to surf can be a tricky undertaking at best. Knowing which wave to catch, when to stand up, how to stand and how to fall is challenging.
When catching a wave, you have to keep looking forward as you paddle. When you turn around, you lose power. You have to be quick and catch the wave before it breaks.
You will wipeout. You will have to get up and try again and again.
The advantage you had yesterday, will be replaced by the trends of tomorrow. You don’t have to do anything wrong, as long as your competitors catch the wave and do it right, you can lose out and fail.
As we change our colours, we appeal to our stakeholdders to ride this wave of change with us.
