I was talking to a club owner and manager recently and he made the comment that, “we are always looking for new ideas in our club”.
Knowing this guy I’m sure he meant what he said but his actions belied his statement… he wasn’t doing anything particularly new or innovative in his club and as I discussed a few new ideas with him he was quick to offer up reasons why he couldn’t do anything right now.
When he said “we are always looking for new ideas in our club” what he actually meant was… we are always looking for ideas that other people aren’t doing that are fully tested, proven, and are guaranteed to make money.
A CEO at a non-profit that I talked to also made a similar comment, “this sounds great but can you tell me about someone else who has used this idea successfully?”
We all look at what others are doing as a guide to our own decision making. We are afraid that if we stray too far from the herd we’ll get lost, be vulnerable to predators, or walk off a cliff.
Of course, a herd mentality can hurt just as much as it can help… overpopulation, lack of genetic diversity, and missed opportunities.
Apple’s iPhone broke from the herd with its touch screen technology to position itself as a dominant player in the smart phone market while others adopted a wait and see approach that saw them relegated with the rest of the pack.
Curves, despite its more recent growth issues, became the world’s largest health club franchise with an innovative micro-club strategy that bucked the “bigger is better” conventional wisdom.
As the saying goes… different isn’t always better, but better is always different.
Every new idea starts somewhere… why shouldn’t it be in your club?
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