April 16, 2020
ISSN# 1545-2646
Creative Pivot
Life has changed as we knew it. We can either roll with the changes (great REO Speedwagon song from the 70’s) or we can concede to the chaos and fold. Yes, we are going to all take our share of various knock’s, bumps and bruises as we navigate the next few weeks and months. These challenges can make us better, stronger and more agile for dealing with the inevitable changes which typically occur at a different, less radical pace.
We need to look at the current chaos as an opportunity to pivot from the course we have traditionally walked to a new trajectory of future success. We have been given some unique time for silence to reframe our future and allow our sometimes stagnant creative juices to begin to flow free. In fact, I might say that pivoting is mandatory to remain relevant moving forward. The way you interacted in the past might very well be just that – a past way of interacting. As we journey forward we will not be forgetting the past but we will be reworking it, refining it and retooling it based on these events surrounding the pandemic.
For example, with the social distancing directives, people have reached out to colleagues, friends, family and many others via technology platforms such as Zoom, Facetime, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and many more. These are not new tools but have been elevated to greater daily use. You might say Facebook and YouTube were already daily social media platforms but these tools are now being used by a significantly wider range and demographics of the population. As a result of this sudden change, businesses will need to pivot portions of their marketing to provide content and value through various platforms.
All business will be impacted. All to varying degrees but those who elect not to be creative and pivot to new ways of engaging their customers will slowly be pushed out of the marketplace. When change of this magnitude takes place, culture shifts like earthquakes shifting the tectonic plates. The result is the earth is reformatted and the future terrain must be navigated differently.
This week as you sequester to your home office, kitchen table or corner of the living room, take a few minutes each day and give the future layout of the best means to take these changing times and pivot your business. It is this time and place to set up and take advantage of this pause. When we all get the green light to step on the gas to go back into the marketplace, you want to be ready and not still working on your plan.
As you prepare to launch back into full operations coming out of the stay home directive, make sure you have your 30, 60, 90 day roll out plans well defined now so you are running and not just thinking about restarting the economy.
At JKL Associates, your Promise Guide is ready to assist you in making your plan ready for action. Give us a call at (313) 527-7945 in Michigan or (407) 984-7246 in Florida.