The Circle of Life

Actually, I'm thinking more the circle of business life. Specifically, start up(birth), growth (teen struggles), maturity (mid-life crisis leading to old age), and finally death. Isn't this what happens to all businesses? - eventually...

Only, those of us working in Strategy, or positions of leadership, are paid to keep the business alive - rejuvenated to cope with the world changing around us, or to keep up with the market innovator who has now changed the rules of engagement.

But should we invest so much time and energy in trying to keep dying businesses alive, or should we allow them to grow old gracefully, pop their clogs and then nurture the daisies that grow in their wake.
From what I can see, Strategists and Consultants spend most of their time trying (and failing) to convince businesses, who don't want to change their way of doing things, that they need to change in order to survive. Remember Sir John Harvey-Jones, Troubleshooter?? How many of those businesses took JHJ's advice - very few. And how many are still around? - I suspect very few, and I don't think it's all the recession's fault!

I was somewhat surprised when I attended a music industry event last year to hear what sounded like an awful lot of 'stuck in a rut' views and opinions on how to deal with the changing face of technology, records, file-sharing, illegal downloads etc... Apart from the subject matter, it was just like listening to the sorts of conversations I hear everyday in the energy (utilities) industry - the majority stuck in some time warp, with a few frustrated forward-thinkers trying to persuade the many of their impending doom. There seems to be a common inability to look at the world from a different perspective, as an outsider or new entrant would, seeing through the obstacles that will inevitably cause paralysis for some, and opportunity for others.

In reality, it seems that only when there is enough impetus from the top will things actually change. I guess the textbooks would call it visionary leadership. Perhaps this is what Leoni Sceti is bringing to EMI with talk of a new business model, new ways of connecting with audiences. Let's wait and see. Do record companies (majors in particular) really know what consumers want, or are we simply waiting for them to kick the bucket and make way for the next generation in music distribution...