Perspective: Adapting to Change

Our company is going through a lot of growing pains. Some of us accept them easily, some don’t. There is no question in my mind that a good quality program will help bring about a lot of these changes. The following is a brief story about those that chose not to change.

From 1900 to 1967, the Swiss were the leading watchmakers in the world. In 1967, when the Swiss patented the digital technology, they rejected it in favor of the traditional ball bearing, gears, and mainsprings they had been using to make watches for decades. Unfortunately, however, the world was ready for this advance, and Seiko, a Japanese company, picked up the digital patent and became the leading watch manufacturer in the world almost overnight. Fifty thousand of the sixty-seven thousand Swiss watchmakers went out of business because they refused to embrace this new technology. It was not until years later that the Swiss caught up and regained their position in the marketplace with the creation of Swatch watches.

Technology will continue to advance and change, and we must constantly learn and adapt or risk becoming a dinosaur. Flexibility allows us to be ready for whatever curve lies ahead in life instead of getting blindsided by it. In a successful quality program, learning to be flexible is a very important part of the process. It will make the curve in our life much easier to maneuver.