resist change at your peril! those who dare win!

Pivot is a word in the forefront of today’s buzzwords through the necessity of many companies to navigate the changing business landscape of the Covid-19 pandemic. Reset, refresh are others.

The COVID crisis has catapulted efficiency, new business building and accelerated innovation to the top of the leadership agenda.

But why did it take a pandemic to get us all questioning the way we do things? Questioning and challenging the status quo should be an everyday habit – that’s if we want to progress, build competitiveness and uniqueness, stay ahead of the game, and grow!

All too often we hear ‘We’ve always done it that way’ or ‘This is the way this market likes things done.’ I contend this mindset can be summed up in one word – complacency – the route to ultimate business failure.

Not that I think failure is a totally bad thing. It can be a good thing providing we don’t fear it and are happy to pick ourselves up, admit failure, and learn the lessons. But fear may hold us back and fear is the imperceptible and powerful emotion that makes us stagnate.

The Old Dog & New Tricks!

At Action Global we’re a bit of an old dog having been around now for 50 years, but we are pivoting, innovating, and denying the adage that ‘You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks.’ This old dog has a few new tricks up its sleeve.

We’ve decided to adopt a start-up mentality to question, challenge and disrupt the way we do things. When I say: ‘start-up mentality,’ I mean we ask ourselves, ‘If we were starting this company or project today, based on market and industry realities and what we know, would we do it the same way that we have been doing it?’ The answer sometimes, but not always, is No! Start-up mentality is paying off.

Hub & Spoke:

Previously we operated a policy of centralization – with key functions such as finance and HR controlled and managed from our Nicosia HQ. We’ve changed that and have created hubs in Moscow and Dubai to handle these functions for their regions where they know the realities on the ground. It’s working with management and staff in these regions feeling more empowered and valued and responding enthusiastically. This is particularly true of company newcomers who feel able to speak up and suggest new ways of doing things and know that they are being listened to and not hampered by dyed-in-the-wool methods and mentalities. Empowering them for change also means we will retain talent.

Lights. Camera. Action Studios!

We accepted that video content creation has long evolved from the halcyon days of freelance videographers cutting Video News Releases (VNRs) and B-Roll for clients / broadcast media. In recent years, Action UAE predominantly used internal video resources to meet deliverables built into our social team’s contracts. Now we’ve evolved with the advent of Action Studios – a dedicated production unit based in Dubai that runs as an independent service and revenue function delivering visual and audio content for the master Action UAE business.

Going Places:

Since the get-go Action has been heavily involved in the travel sector representing destinations, handling destination, hospitality, airline, and cruise comms but with our talent working individually on projects spread throughout our network. That’s until again we applied our start-up mentality and createdAction Travel.

Headquartered in Moscow, with a strong presence in the UAE this new division simply lives and breathes travel. Working with some of the world’s most renowned travel brands, we pivot and thrive creating game changing creative campaigns for an ever-evolving industry. This knowledgeable and strategic team are deeply immersed and inter-connected to all things travel including strong ties with travel influencers, travel agents, tourism boards and travel brands in general. Although many may question the decision to invest in ‘travel’ in the current climate, we have already seen a solid ROI.

The Lesson:

We’ve learnt that the very worst reason to do anything is simply because “We’ve always done it this way.” Consumer behavior has shifted dramatically and changing with those expectations is the fundamental engine for growth today.   

Now I’m not advocating that you throw all your old ways in the rubbish bin for the sake of change, I’m suggesting you be courageous enough to challenge those ways because the reality is that the companies that survive and thrive will be those that pivot, reset, and refresh constantly, which reject complacency, and are unafraid to fail.

No-one can argue the fact that disruption brings innovation, so ask yourself today, how are you cultivating positive change within your organization? If you aren’t then map out where it is you can start.