Entrepreneurship has changed forever. The old way is imploding. And it is a good thing. Scary. But a good thing, nonetheless.
Just like a star in its final stage of life, OWE (Old Way Entrepreneurship) started a rapid, insatiable burn after 9/11 and in this new decade it collapsed into a black hole. But along with the death of OWE, is the birth of a NEW (New Entrepreneurship Way). I know, I know. The acronyms aren’t the best, but those are not important. Here is what is:
Competition Has Moved To Collaboration
OWE used a Compete & Destroy approach toward growing. The key strategy to success was to identify your competitors, determine how to pull away their clients and destroy the competition. You grow by killing.
NEW is using a Collaborate & Elevate strategy for success. In this approach you identify your competitors, determine how you compliment each other, and then pull together to elevate both your business to the next level. The customers win, your competitor (now called your collaborator) wins, and YOU win.
Information Driven Leadership Has Moved To Intuition Driven Leadership
OWE had leaders who were persuasive, charismatic and intelligent, but relied almost entirely on the data. Trend analysis, customer surveys and probability charts made the decisions. Information overload causes paralysis since all decisions, good, bad & outright horrible, can find supporting data.
NEW leaders trust their heart and gut more than the numbers alone. Even if the trends and surveys don’t support a decision, but their intuition does, they go for it. Today’s leaders leverage the core facts and leave everything else up to intuition.
Adopting Has Moved To Adapting
OWE would adopt a new product/service into their business and keep it in place as long as it fit. Then they would throw away what wasn’t working and adopt a new replacement. Every service, every product and every employee was simply a building block.
NEW constantly adapts their offering to be absolutely consistent with the companies’ vision and the customers’ demands. Products, services and people are adapted to flow with ever changing customer demand. The growth of a company following this method is often slower and more painful than the OWE approach, but it is much more organic and keeps the products, services and people around for generations.
Learn From The Girls
Now you know what the undercurrent of entrepreneurial change is. Did you know there is something even bigger going on at the surface? There is a BIG change afoot. The NEW approach of Collaboration, Intuition and Adapting plays perfectly into the natural wiring of women.
Women (and guys who “get it”) entrepreneurs will lead the charge. Over the years to come you will see more and more women growing multi-million dollar businesses. Over the years you will see a whole new paradox of entrepreneurs who adhere to a constant purpose yet are constantly adapting. You know, maternal like.