Game changer
Business continued with exhortations to soldier on with courage because it would all be normal again. courage will not compensate for a failure to read change dynamics. Stupid courage is always a liability and it costs dear money and precious time.
Without warning, we turned up to play, dressed and ready to play the usual soccer by the rules that we now knew by heart, and we were surprised. We found things changed, the grounds redrawn and the rules different and strange. The cheese had moved and the game had changed from soccer to basket ball. For a moment we were confused and frustrated trying to play soccer with opponents that were adept at basketball and its ins and outs. In time we caught up after many hard knocks. A least so we thought. Change usually does not come in a motorcade, it just arrives like an African visitor from the village and stays longer than is expected. The nostalgia for soccer never left us. We kept thinking that one day things would go back to the normal we knew. Normal being the past order and the old rules that prevailed in the days when we were confidently afoot. We soldiered on in basket-balling until one day we turned up to play and we found everyone was sitting pensively without a ball. The game had changed yet again it was now chess. Of all things, chess when we were primed for our outdoor game. So behaves change. It rains on you the day you did not carry and umbrella and sometimes the sky clears when you are carrying an umbrella and you look weird. Check mate
We brought the dribbling skills of football to chess and we were frustrated. We then applied our newly acquired basketball skills and they were of no use. In frustration we looked around for everything that looked like a solution. In the first instance the board just fired our coach, the CEO. We remembered watching a hockey match once and thought that this may perhaps work but alas the game had changed and our celebrated tennis coach was of little help in chess affairs.
Change and Chess beckon us to come to the table and play on many chess boards at the same time. This is the new normal. When change comes and we fail to change we frustrate ourselves and those who follow us. Nothing is as frustrating as leaders who are impervious to change and a basking in denial. Change is uncomfortable and traumatic when you know there is a leak in the system except that you do not know where the leak is but you can feel that you are going down fast. It is not enough that you see a light at the end of the tunnel, it may just be the light of an oncoming train. Business Model
Your business model is the way you put together all the elements of your business in order to deliver value to your customers. It is the essence of your game plan and client fulfillment process. Every business has a business model, whether you are conscious of it or not. Other business models are just intuitive. When you document your business model it is easier to innovate that business model and change it when the time comes. Nothing is as limiting as an outdated business model. It's like playing chess using soccer rules on a basketball pitch with a boxing umpire. For many years I would be in meetings where people would start talking about their business model. Some would suggest the need to change the business model. Some would turn philosophical and start articulating some sophisticated constructs. Then someone would ask, "What is our business model?" Five or so versions would crop up. The confusion would continue. Everyone knew what they were talking about but no one could define what they were talking about. This worried me a lot until the light shined. I found a book. The Book
One day I came across a book written by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur, entitled: "Business Model Generation." I was hooked. The cover stated boldly:"You're holding a handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers striving to defy outmoded business models and design tomorrow's enterprises." The book gave a simple and straightforward business model generation canvas. I sank my teeth in the book and I was a liberated soul. I started using this canvas model in my strategy and organizational innovation workshops. It created some interesting strategic conversations and brought clarity and simplicity to the business model conversation. Playing catch up
Most people pursue the catch up strategy. As they journey on they discover that catching is cannot be a strategy but a myth. How do you catch up when others are also running faster and harder. Change mandates that we start thinking about leap frogging strategies and we hold ourselves to higher standards than those we see strutted by those we feel are leading the pack. No one is invincible. To win in a changing environment you do not catch up, you just change the rules of the game. Challengers who win in the market place do not come to duplicate the plays of their competitors. They change the rules and reinvent the game. Past success is not an exclusive franchise on success. Complacency kills success because it is a faulty and premature celebration of a race that is not yet over. You are always in trouble when your learning curve starts to decline and you rely on old rules to navigate new territory. The greatest skill in the new environment is the ability to learn and unlearn. Change will always eat your lunch if you fail to adapt and rise to the new game. What do you need to unlearn? What do you need to learn? In what way do you need to change? What is making you uncomfortable? Do not die while you are still alive. Do not expire while you are on the shelf of life. Do not lose relevance while carrying outmoded certificates. Welcome and celebrate change. It's never too late to reinvent yourself. I will be grateful to connect with you on Twitter. My twitter handle is: @MiltonKamwendo. Committed to your greatness. Milton Kamwendo | 
There was a time not so long ago when business was like game of soccer. We took sides and we enthusiastically played our hearts out. We knew the field and the rules were set, changing slightly after every world cup. It was all fun and fare and business repeatedly posted ever increasing profits. A number of business people also shared celebrity status and platforms with the singers, politicians and clergy. Making money seemed easy. The popular study courses looked like wealth ammunition. All was well until things started not working and credible explanations were hard to come by. We were all left with one question: "Why?"
