Pandemic Ponderings 3 – Staying Relevant

Tom GibbonsOrganization DevelopmentLeave a Comment

In our first post on Pandemic Ponderings we surfaced the question of relevance; “Is what we do relevant when it can stop so fast?” and “What can we do to stay relevant?” as we tentatively step into a recovery phase post pandemic.

To answer these questions we needed to look closely at the experiences we have had during the pandemic with our customers; and that was the second Pandemic Ponderings post.

What became very evident, and somewhat painfully so, was that our products are not what make us, or will keep us relevant. When you finally face this reality, it causes you to (re)consider a lot of things! Is our marketing useful, is our price point valid, is our business model of accreditation to use our products even viable? Should we just run away and live in a cabin in the woods!!!

That last point sounded kind of good at times but really didn’t solve much and certainly wouldn’t make us relevant. What did make us relevant during the pandemic however, was staying connected to people. Our Virtual Coffee Shop, the deeper conversations about how we could make things happen, sharing stories of uncertainty, expertise, effort and change.

We entered the pandemic with an emerging mantra of being helpful and relevant; and have discovered that being helpful IS what makes us relevant.

Yes, that is highly subjective and context based and yes, most business schools would provide us with a failing grade on trying to sustain a business on that platform, but that is our answer to the nagging question of “What can we do to stay relevant?”

We can be helpful.

Helpful with our products, helpful with our expertise and helpful in learning together. And we can do that within the constraints and needs of a for profit business. A small for profit business; and one that can celebrate our smallness.

What does that mean to our clients? I guess we’ll find out in the interactions we have with them…. and you…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.