Room for Change

One of my favorite reading materials is a book written by Jim Collins ‘Good To Great’ and every now and then, I pick it up and go through it and see the different instances that he gives, of companies that have done well and some of the reasons for it. I was looking at it the other day as he talks about ‘Confronting the Brutal Facts’, one of the chapters. What caught my attention was the story of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Companies as it came up in the 1950’s.

At that time, this was the #1 store in the US, the largest organization, second only to General Motors in terms of annual sales. At that time Kroger wasn’t even in the picture. It was just a little store somewhere along the way. But in the 1960s, both these companies were coming to the fore and A&P (as Great Atlantic and Pacific Company was known as) began to falter. They found that it was having trouble trying to keep up with a changing America. Kroger on the other hand, began to build up. By about the 70s, Kroger accumulated 10 times the market and 80 times better than what A&P was doing.

As you look at this amazing turnaround story and how one company was able to come up and really grab market shares because Kroger came up in 1999 to be the #1 retail store in the US. As you look at what happened, you see that A&P was not willing to look at what was happening around it and adapt to a changing situation. A&P was a frugal store. It gave to America during the period of war where frugality was a main value, being careful about spending money. And A&P came up at that time, having grocery stores all over the country that catered to that particular need.

But what they didn’t realize was that after the war, everything changed. Americans wanted to start spending, they were getting money. They needed a place where they could be lavish. They wanted 4 and 5 choices for a single product. A&P wasn’t able to see the signs. Kroger did and they realized that confronted with the changing environment, they had to do something or else they would be wiped out. And they did that. They started concentrating on huge retailing outlets – one store that would have all kinds of things including the ability to take out money, parking lots, etc. This saw them become #1 in 1999. A&P on the other hand faded away. Both of them were institutions that had great histories. When they started out, Kroger had about 82 years of history and A&P was about 110 years. Yet, A&P stuck with what they thought was a tried and trusted method. They said that if this had lasted them a century it would last them even more. But Kroger was able to look at the changing times and say, “While we may have a history, today we are confronted with a changing scenario. Unless we adapt, we are going to get overtaken.” They did and the rest is history.

As I looked at that story, I thought to myself that sometimes we are like that too. We may not be doing that in our spheres of work, or we could be doing it, or we sometimes get caught up doing that in our own personal lives. We look at the things that are happening around us and we think that it will not affect us and just continue to do the things that have always worked for us. The 7 last words of any institution: ‘We’ve always done it like that before’. Even though the facts are in front of us and we feel that there needs to be change, we ignore those facts, put our heads in the sand and hope that this period of time will move away. Harold Wilson said, “He who rejects change, is the architect of decay. The only human institution that rejects progress is the cemetery.” Somebody else said, “Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat.”

I wonder as you listen to me on this call, whether there are things that you are holding on to that you know you ought to be giving up. Maybe it’s not working for you. Maybe it’s been a traditional way that you’ve handled a situation. Maybe that’s how you learnt it. Or maybe it’s worked before in many situations but of late, it’s not been working. Maybe this morning the word for you would be ‘Try and break the change that is confronting you.’ Maybe you’re not someone who likes new things. But if we look at the story of A&P, not having the ability to take the facts that are in front of us and brace change, could bring about our downfall.

So what things are you holding onto my friends, that today are not working for you? Is it an old value system? Is it a management principle that you had around for 20 – 25 years? Is it a theory about relationships that worked before but isn’t working now? Is it a belief system that you have? What is it that is preventing you from inheriting everything that you ought to be inheriting?

I want to close with 2 stories:

Two men were out fishing. One guy continued to draw in the fish and the other guy was having no luck at all. Finally in exasperation, he called out to the other guy and said, “How are you managing to catch fish when I am not getting any?” the guy turned around and mumbled something. The second guy couldn’t understand and asked him to repeat what he said. The first guy again mumbled something. Once again guy #2 asked him to repeat himself. The first guy finally spat something out of his mouth and said, “You’ve got to keep the worms warm.” What an innovative way! Kind of a gross picture for some of us, but he knew what he had to do to be a successful fisherman.

A man got married and soon he realized that everything in his house was done with small portions. Everything would be cut up into little portions and then made. He asked his wife why she did that and she said that her mom always did it like that. The guy was curious and the next time he met his mother in law, he asked her why she always put everything in small portions and she replied that she had always done it like that. So when he met his wife’s grandmother he asked her the same question. She smiled and said that they had small pans in those days so they had to make small portions to fit the pans.

You see what happens? We forget why we do things and we cling on to those things even though they are outmoded and need to be changed. So I challenge you this morning. What is it in your life that needs change? What is it in your life that you need to be innovative about? What is it in your life that is bringing decay into your life? What is it that needs to be given up? We’ve always done it like that before. I hope that these won’t be famous last words for any of us on this call.

I want to invite you to look at your own life today, look at the way you work in your company, the things that you bring to bear on decision making and see whether possibly, there is room for change, or room to innovate. And I believe that the Almighty God, who has your interests at heart, will help you to find those areas that need change.

God Bless You All.