An expression for people and organizations to refer to when new ideas or models are being implemented. Anchoring to the status quo is a post simply implying entities sink like an anchor and drag along the ocean floor if they don’t accept change.

Heard the expressions, “Why fix something when it’s not broken?”, or maybe, “This is how things have been done forever, why should we change?”. Ideas evolve, businesses need to stay relevant, there’s always a better way!

Staying relevant

Forward-thinking individuals or club leaders that ignore the stereotypical status quo can break the mold of inefficiency and regression through bold positive steps of taking old reasoning to modern new thinking heights.

I am in the youth sports industry, soccer. The sector can be full of status quo examples, from, leagues, club formation to club management and operation.

Read more…10 Topics to discuss with your coach

And therein lies the issue of breaking free from historical ineptness. Being a company that relies on joining external instruments, it becomes difficult. In reality, the businesses are somewhat joined in marriage.

Take a league we applied to participate in. Our model of creating teams through affiliation wasn’t how other competing clubs operated.

Playing leagues, therefore, refused to observe the model, as it wasn’t a recognized norm from other league member clubs.

They became stuck in the notion “The current methods are here to stay.” In other words, we would have to maintain the status quo by reverting back to models that were historically not working, or successful. We had to change to fit a way of thinking that was no longer conducive to the needs of the community. We had to accept in order to compete in the league.

Competition

A major objection to change will always be your competition. Competitors that see a challenge to their status quo see trouble brewing on the horizon.

Never worry about what your competitors are doing! Concentrate exclusively on your own service or product. Know that if you’re doing things right, success will follow.

In the soccer scene, competitors that notice new methods are quick to dismiss them as nonsense and a failure. They will go to great lengths to make sure they voice that opinion in the marketplace.

Read More…The American pay-to-play model dilemma

A natural reaction from competitors’ fear of your success. Best way to maintain their market share? Create fear within other competitors and create new policies to restrict your method’s ability to compete effectively in the market without resorting back to… you guessed it, the incredible historic status quo!

Competitors’ use of stifling change through governing organizations is popular and successful. Reason? Protecting their market share, by not allowing other options for the potential of your organization paying members to explore.

Stand out from the rest

Believe in your methods, stick to your beliefs that it will improve the long-term marketplace, and position you better to serve your community or customers.

Trust in new forward-thinking, it’s how we evolved to benefit from a better future. Sure some ideas may develop through trial and error, or need tweaking. But if believing 1970’s business models are still relevant then we are very much doing a disservice to the very industry we are trying to improve.

Ultimately evolving companies and organizations benefit the end consumer. The customer has greater options. Maybe, the first realization of why people don’t want to change. Fear.

Fear of changing, entering the unknown, or shifting from what you’ve been comfortable with, for decades.

Company management, hierarchy, products, and services are not exempt from the dreaded all-consuming march of time to a modern evolving future.

A playing league decided it was important to inform our business that we were not operating correctly and should follow the blueprint of a competing club.

“This is how they do it, you should talk to them and change the way you do business”.

We didn’t, from that meeting to 2020 we grew by a whopping 233.3%. Herein lies in the problem.

Older businesses shape and guide their sector’s landscape. Many have aided third-party entities’ successes. In this case, the league’s growth benefited from the established clubs, both in growth and operation. Decision-making was based on historical data and performance.

How can organizations evolve and become better at serving communities’ needs if they aren’t allowed to challenge the considered norm?

Examples of refusal to innovate, evolve, and change by maintaining the status quo have culled major companies, blue-chip in some cases, falling into spectacular failures leaving them to examples of teaching.

Companies that couldn’t evolve

88% of fortune 500 companies since 1955 are now in Wikipedia’s historical section. Forgotten businesses have either merged with competitors or left to rot in bankruptcy court.

Organizations who continue to exist today can attribute that success to being slimmer, not scared to evolve, are being better managed. These companies break the mold of entities that refuse to modernize.

Compaq, the computer giant, video rental company Blockbuster, Polaroid camera, and MySpace social media giant to name a few. No longer with us. Failure to evolve, realize the status quo wasn’t going to keep them on business.

Before Blockbuster’s implosion, the chain employed a whopping 84,300 people in over 9,000 storefronts. Netflix offered $50M to sell. The CEO thought Netflix’s space was too niche and consumers wouldn’t pay for entertainment through a subscription at home.

Netflix with annual revenues of $8.8Billion and 104 Million subscribers demonstrated that the video rental space can evolve and not stay Status Quo.

Be innovative, refuse the status quo, be the leader in change, and set the bar for success and sustainability. Don’t be anchoring to the status quo.