Last week I referred to Andrew Grove‘s comments relative to the reinvention of Intel in which he referred to the process as the “Valley of Death.”
Strategic Inflection Points: what happens to a business when a major change takes place in its competitive environment… what is key is that they require a fundamental change in business strategy. Nothing less is sufficient.
… you really go through the stages of grieving. Going from denial, which is the most prominent of all the stages, to various behaviors, to finally acceptance. And once you reach acceptance, action, whether it’s sufficient or effective or not, is about to follow.
And it is the very key in all of this to strive toward making these changes as fast as possible because time is your ally. …you’re going to become a late mover by being stuck in the denial stage too long.
As you go through the change, the business goes through major transformation that I can best describe as a Valley of Death. It is not fun to go through those changes. We all say changes are wonderful, we all welcome change. We love change when it happens to somebody else and change is very rarely wonderful when you have to do away with the established practice and established people to adapt –– to tear apart before you can put together the new. So I look at the Valley of Death as an appropriate way to do that.
After you have struggled in the Valley of Death long enough, you have a clear picture of the strategic dissonance and how to close in on it. You are ready for chaos and you’re ready to deploy your resources. It’s one of those things like empowerment.*
The Grief Cycle Among DeathCare Professionals
If you are to accelerate your own journey through this cycle in order to begin the healthy process of acclimating to our “New Normal” it is important that you recognize when you are stuck. Here is what each stage looks like:
Denial: In this stage there is a preoccupation with fighting yesterday’s battles. Things like licensing laws: Should we allow dual licensing? Should we require a bachelors degree? Who should be allowed to sell preneed? Who should be allowed to sell caskets? Should funeral homes be allowed to serve food and drink? These laws, once barriers to entry, are quickly becoming barriers to survival.
Other examples include the decade-long battle and now rumored appeal in Pennsylvania regarding the State Funeral Law and the Louisiana fight against the sale of Trappist Coffins. Given the urgency of the real issues facing our profession this behavior reminds me of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Anger: Anger, for people who are typically very restrained in emotional expression, is subtle. I think their staff sees it as increased frustration and maybe some confusion. They are aware that things are no longer going to be as they once were but they are not yet aware there is a solution.
I imagine them going home at night, kicking the family cat and raging about the family they just served: “I just don’t know what these people want anymore.” Then fixing a stiff drink and collapsing in their easy chair.
I do think I see a growing number stuck here because of the bitter-tinged conversation about other practitioners and vendors in the convention conversations. There is a disdain among those stuck here as if they had answers (which they may think they have but I haven’t seen) that others aren’t smart enough to see. At any rate, for my own emotional health I have found it is best to let them rant until they run out of steam. Eventually one of two things happens. They move on to the next stage or they get so bitter no one wants to be around them.
Bargaining: This is where most of the profession is stuck for now. The implicit assumption on which most DeathCare marketing is based is:
If we are likable enough you will choose us.
So, as consumers have increasingly moved to less and less service and even sought non conventional vendors we have turned to adding more and more value. This “add-on” value has added cost but no corresponding revenue. In essence we are saying: “If we do more for you, we hope you will appreciate us more and maybe next time you will come back and buy more.” Unfortunately, time has shown that, while customers may appreciate you more, there is no corresponding impact on loyalty or revenue. In fact, quite the opposite is too often true.
What is this added value? Things like dove and balloon releases, free DVD’s and multicolored paper goods. These things are good in their own right and I am not suggesting we should not do them. But too many have fallen into the trap of believing they are innovations when, in reality, they are only novelties.
Peter Drucker correctly defines innovation and, therefore, reinvention as follows:
“The test of an innovation is that it creates value. A novelty only creates amusement. The test of innovation is not: ‘Do we like it?’ It is: ‘Do customers want it and will they pay for it?'”
Despair: Those in despair are almost inconsolable. They are convinced that we have become a commodity. It is a “race to the bottom.” It is all about the dollar.
This is a delicate stage. The most effective technique I have found is to almost mockingly agree with them or to aggressively abandon them. Sometimes if you use a form of hyperbole they are shocked out of their malaise and willing to listen.
I once told a client that I had heard you have to wait for a drowning man to go down for the third time before trying to save him and to call me when he felt he was going down for the third time. He did and followed my advice and doubled his business in a year.
But it is easy to get trapped in this phase and sympathy is not what works.
Acceptance: Having been through the grief cycle and reinvention with clients myself more than once, I can only say: “I love this stage!” And the reason is:
“There is nothing so dangerous as someone who has nothing to lose”
Those who have reached this stage have resolved the “burning platform” issue and have made peace with the question: “it is better to choose probable death than certain death” (view video below)
It is really fun to work with and coach someone at this stage because they are willing to challenge their own paradigms and they are free or becoming freed of the Persona they have so carefully protected for so long. They recognize they don’t have all the answers and that no one else does either and they love going with me on the search. They become learners. and, for me that’s the best part of all because now they can grow as persons.
I think that’s why Andrew Grove says
After you have struggled in the Valley of Death long enough, you have a clear picture of the strategic dissonance and how to close in on it. You are ready for chaos and you’re ready to deploy your resources. It’s one of those things like empowerment.*
This Video will give you an insight into why a “Burning Platform” is sometimes necessary:
Next Week: What It Will Take For True Reinvention. “Islands Of Excellence in A Sea of Mediocrity”
*Excerpted from an address to The American Academy of Management by Andrew Grove CEO Intel Corp.
Alan, you strong arguments remind me of a valuable proverb. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend…” Sometimes the right advice is hard to take, but keep giving it!
Thanks Brian. A fitting proverb. and another like it from 29:18 “Without a vision the people perish”
Imagine razing everything, starting from scratch and asking ourselves the question, “What do families want?” The answers: Disposition, certainly. Celebration, likely. But burying folks in expensive furniture? Probably not. So, accept and embrace the first two. Turn loose of the third. Margins will take care of themselves.
This is really the fun part of running a business. Growing and meeting the desires of the public is really what it is all about. Much like a chess game, we get to try and figure out the public’s next move and when we do and we are ahead of the trends it can be very pleasing.
Life would get fairly tame if we did the same year after year. Making the correct changes and having them work is the challenge. Perhaps some are worried about failing on a move. We always learn, even on a failure, but failure to try to change will most likely have negative results.
Tom, a very wealthy “self-made” man once told me that his secret to success was whenever he failed he always tried to fail forward. I always thought that was a great concept.