When the
great scientist Isaac Newton published the Principia (Mathematical principles
of Natura Philosophy) in 1687, he would never have imagined the far-reaching impact
of his magnum opus.
It changed
the world view on subjects as diverse as mechanics, astronomy and light.
While its
impact on science cannot be denied, observed carefully and from a distance, it can
have a bearing on unrelated fields like leadership, management, marketing,
sales – in short many things to do with human behavior.
See a
disconnect somewhere?
Let me try
and explain.
Newton’s first
law of motion says – Every body (object) continues in its state of rest or of
uniform motion unless and until an external force acts on it (things go on as
they are if there is no effort to change it).
This is
also called the law of Inertia.
What is inertia, in simple English? It means
the tendency to do nothing or remain unchanged.
Inertia should be the most dreaded word in the management
lexicon today. Inertia or the tendency to do nothing has destroyed more companies
in the last five decades that the environment or competition.
Let us look
at some examples…
Remember Blackberry?
About a decade back, for every corporate executive, it was a must have. It beautifully
bridged the gap between survival and style. It was one of the most prominent
smartphones in the world. With a lovely QWERTY key pad and secure mail, it
started the concept of Office on the move and 24*7 mail access. In 2013, it is
estimated that almost 85 Million customers were using Blackberry, worldwide.
Today, the
company that first made it- RIM (Research in Motion) does not exist in its
original form. The blackberry handsets sit as relics of the past in some
houses.
While
Blackberry was booming in the years 1999 – 2013, there were some other
platforms that were booming – IOS (iPhones were launched in 2007) and Android.
Unwilling
to change its platforms at the right time and unwillingness to embrace the
magic of the new smart phone user interfaces led to the collapse of the iconic Blackberry.
Nokia, at
one point of time was considered invincible, the leader in devices by a margin.
Where is it today?
Simply put,
not the market forces, but the mindset - if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it- the
classic manifestation of Inertia led
to these iconic brand’s undoing,
Related to
the concept of inertia is a concept
of friction. When a body is
stationary, the resisting force that prevents its movement is called static friction (static means at rest).
When a body is on the move, the force resisting its movement is called Kinetic (in motion) friction.
Simplifying-
think of a heavy dining table at home. The force required to move it would be
enormous- possibly would call for a few more hands (this is due to static friction), but once the table
has moved an inch or so, to push it further becomes substantially easy as the
resisting force seems to have gone down dramatically (this is the kinetic friction).
Scientifically,
static friction is greater than kinetic friction.
Linking it
back to the corporate world, think of any change that needs to be introduced in
an organization. Something as simple as asking employees to come to meetings on
time. When the change is first introduced, it is fairly difficult to implement.
There is a lot of reticence, resistance etc. This is akin to static friction. Once the members of
the Organization realize it is not as difficult as they had envisaged, the
meeting attendance and time adherence improve. To initiate change is far tougher
than to manage it.
The
futurist Alvin Toffler had said – The illiterates of the world will not be
those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.
Most successful
organizations build knowledge warehouses and processes that make them strong.
Over a period of time, this becomes the Organization’s way of working. With
each episode in the Organization’s journey, another layer of the way of working
gets strengthened. This is part of the learning
journey. The Organization starts to believe that it has answers to all the challenges
thrown at it. The past learning effectively
becomes the millstone of inertia.
Global
leaders like General Electric, Ford Motor Corp have seen their valuations drop
over five years because they failed to get out their “ways of working”, their
unwillingness to unlearn, get rid of
their inertia is their undoing.
Going back
to Sir Isaac Newton’s law, what can prevent inertia is an external force. The
force has to come from the CEO – it is he or she who chooses to unlearn and relearn and decides that the company is no longer a corporate
illiterate.
But, the
changes mooted encounter friction – remember static friction? But, once the
change is pushed through, the resistance to change lessens – remember Kinetic
Friction?
To sum up –
An organization is bound to fail if it continues to work the way it was
(inertia). If no external force acts on it (either leadership or environment
driven), it will not change course. While the external force might encounter
resistance, sustained effort can bring about radical transformations.
