I have said in the past that if the biggest economic downturn since the great depression can’t convince you to rethink your business… what will?
The status quo is a powerful thing. In fact, it has such a profound effect on our thinking that psychologists have identified it as one, of several, cognitive biases (status quo bias). Basically, we are wired to defend the status quo.
The status quo is the devil we know.
Feedback I have been getting for my report The Evolution of a Health Club Member has demonstrated this quite clearly. Many owners and managers are obviously heavily invested in the status quo. Of course, understanding status quo bias I fully expected that.
What I found most interesting is that many consultants are also heavily invested in the status quo.
When I thought about it for a while I realized that these guys have put a lot of time, energy, and intellectual capital into their status quo solutions. If the status quo changes their solutions may become obsolete and their reputation, status, and earning potential become compromised.
For example, if you are a consultant focused on selling customer service training to health club staff and the low-price model significantly reduces reliance on staff (by automating processes to reduce payroll) then demand for your services is likely to decline unless you can maintain the status quo (and therefore demand for your solutions) by deriding the low-price business model.
How do you tell if someone is defending the status quo? Seth Godin compiled a list of the top ways to defend the status quo a few years ago… it’s a good starting point.
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