Taking Life Lessons From The Astrology Pages

Geoff Smith Portrait

BY Geoff Smith

POSTED ON NOVEMBER 12, 2011

It seems that the universe is unfolding at about 8,000 miles per hour; not only is everything changing, but the pace of change is increasing. Solid business models used to be good for years, now it’s more like months. A good, solid competitive edge now lasts, oh, maybe several weeks.

We talk a lot about change around our shop. Well, a good number of us do. Truth be told – and I have little doubt it’s the same in most ‘low tech’ companies – there are still a whole bunch of people very uncomfortable with the notion and demands of constant change, and who still believe in the traditional ways. These people are very capable, experienced, smart and sincere, and believe we can continue to be successful doing things pretty much the way we have for many years. I know of one professional firm that believes that resisting change is a smart strategy – it will help them carve out and define their niche as ‘traditionalists’ (good luck with that).

Then I read my horoscope last Friday (Virgo, and I quote): ‘You cannot force people to change their beliefs. The more you try, the more they will cling to them. But why would you want to try? The world is actually a better place for its myriad opinions.

Me, I think resisting change is futile at best, but the first two sentences got my attention. Maybe we should let the change embracers do their embracing, and the change resistors do their resisting (since both are going to do exactly that anyway) and simply wait and see who succeeds and who doesn’t. The winners will win, the losers will lose. If I’m right, the resistors will gradually retreat and fade. And if I’m wrong, I will have some apologizing to do.

I think I’ve got to start reading my horoscope more often.

Or, then again, maybe not.