At the helm: The challenge of change

By David Gee

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin

Just as you might like to take a physical inventory of your business at the end of the year,
I like to take a mental inventory. Reflect on the past. Contemplate the future. Dream some big dreams. Take stock of what has changed in my life, what hasn’t, and what I want to change.

That can be kind of a dizzying task these days, as just about the only constant in our lives this past year-and-a-half or so has been change. Where and how we work, shop and play have all gone through changes, many of which might have been unimaginable pre-pandemic.

However, I know many of you have used this time as an opportunity to improve your businesses, your efficiency, your profit margins, and to change for the better. You have met the challenge of change to not just survive, but in many cases thrive.

Hanging on my office wall is a print I had framed all the way back in my college days from the first-ever professional conference I ever attended. It was a public relations conference in Chicago, and the print has the Chicago skyline silhouetted above a chess board with the pieces scattered all around and splashed across the top the bold headline, “The Challenge of Change.” I look up at that print often, and allow my mind the chance to marinate on those four words.

I know there are going to be significant personal and professional changes for me in the new year, and some for this magazine as well. And I embrace those! 

Changes have certainly been a part of the publishing business for a while. Our parent company, EPG Media & Specialty Information, the owner of multiple B2B and B2C titles, has made a concerted effort to stay out in front of those changes. The days of simply selling display ads and printing magazines to turn a profit are long gone.

What are you saying goodbye to in 2021? What are you looking forward to doing or changing in 2022?

Abigail Brenner, M.D., a psychiatrist in private practice, once wrote in Psychology Today about responding effectively to change. She says to practice the five P’s:

Be patient. Be persistent. Be practical. Be positive. And have a purpose.

So good luck with your end of year inventories. Have a happy holiday season and we’ll see you in 2022.