Imagine you’ve been reaching out to your customers, and they’ve been telling you that something has to change. But it’s a dilemma. You don’t want to change too much, or your loyal purchasers may stop purchasing. You don’t want to change so much that your teammates or employees don’t feel like they’re getting what they signed on for. You want evolution, not revolution, right?
Embattled tech company RIM has been facing just this sort of a decision. The company announced today that its co-CEOs were stepping down, to be replaced by insider Thorsten Heins. But so far the market hasn’t responded kindly. The problem may be that the change is simply too small. While RIM’s fall from grace has been dramatic, in fact, nothing short of meteoric, this change appears, to many, to be miniscule. Herein lays the key to knowing how much change is enough. The degree of change needs to be relative in scope to the level of impact that’s required. So if the problem your customers have been encountering is significant, then the change will likely come with a commensurate level of discomfort. If you want revolutionary change, be prepared for a revolution.
