Everyone says they have, want to, or will transform their business. Few do. The digital transformation looks more like adding sensors than any significant change so far in most manufacturers. But transformation is crucial to the longevity of your business. It’s not a one-and-done activity and is never for the faint of heart. Perhaps that’s why the average lifespan of manufacturing businesses is falling.

 So what makes successful transformation so difficult?

Well, first and foremost, a vision of the future is required. What are you transforming from, and to, and how will you know when it is successful? Implementing ERP is hardly transformation. Entering a new market is rarely transformational. Both are decisions that change the nature of work for some, but neither assures a healthy business five years from now.

 Another impediment is lack of commitment. We want it and we want it now. We are no different from our customers in that regard.

I encourage you to think deeply about your business: its present, and its future. Where do current markets seem to be headed? Which markets could disappear, or become disrupted by different thinking? The answer to those last two questions is all of them!

Envision the possibilities, commit to leading your team with unbridled passion and energy to accomplish the organization’s mission consistent with those possibilities, and identify a first step worth taking. If you can’t provide unbridled passion and energy to the transformed next future of your company, the first step worth taking is to identify who can. Ensure that person lives and breathes your core values, cares about your mission, and can accept the baton from your outstretched hand to lead the transformation that must come.

That’s not failure on your part; that, my friend, is success.

Start now, and as always, Finish Strong.

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