How can this be a good thing?

Entrepreneurship is ALL about change. Change is where the opportunity is at. But, it is also a problem.

Undoubtedly you will agree with me when I say people resist and fear change. In fact, humans are hardwired to resist change. The psychological name, for this phenomenon, is the Status Quo Bias.

The Status Quo Bias has been empirically proven. And, what scientists have found is that we value what we have roughly twice as much as what we could have. Stated simply, we do not want to change.

Let me go a little deeper into the problem. The famous philosopher Søren Kierkegaard said life exists in tension. I agree. Allow me to explain.

Another thing you would have to agree with is the old paradox, “The only constant is change.” Change is inevitable. But, just a second ago we agreed that people resist changing. Can you see the tension?

Enter the entrepreneur. One of the main things entrepreneurs do is we help people to make good changes. So, if you wish to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be comfortable with change. To that end, I have a little exercise for you.

Here is an exercise, I personally use, when faced with change. Whenever I encountered a change, in my life, I ask myself, “How can this be a good thing?”

As the beginning of this blog suggests, change equals opportunity. And, the reality is, you cannot capitalize on change if you do not ask yourself how any given change can be a good thing.

Let me give you two examples. One personal. The other more public.

First off, I use Realtor dot com a lot. Recently, they changed their search function and it kind of messed me up. However, I asked myself, “How can this be a good thing?” And, I kept trying to get the website to work for me.

It took me a little while, but, it turns out the new search method is actually much better, and more effective, for me. Make no mistake, when the site was changed I almost threw in the towel and went elsewhere. The only thing that helped me was the question, “How can this be a good thing?”

Now for my second example. Most of you will probably remember an old service called Napster. Back in 1999 a guy by the name of Shawn Fanning created a file-sharing software that came to be known as Napster.

Napster was the way many people illegally downloaded music. It turned into quite the ordeal. Many people in the music business thought their industry would be destroyed.

In an attempt to salvage their golden goose many record companies, and artists, banded together and started suing the downloaders. What these companies and artists were doing was a rear-guard action. They were trying to protect the past.

But, Apple Computer was smarter than that. The folks at Apple asked themselves some form of my question, “How can this be a good thing?” And, their answer changed everything. Today, iTunes practically owns the music business.

Tension is a reality of life. You are wired to fight against change. And yet, change is one of the few things you can reliably count on.

If you can overcome the Status Quo Bias, and begin to see change as the opportunity it is, you are moving in the direction of successful entrepreneurship. Good luck!