Impossible thinking the secret to business survival

As competition for capital, projects and talent accelerates, advertising guru Dan Gregory ponders how property companies can embrace agility, innovation and impossible thinking.

“We’re living in a world of unbelievable change,” says Dan Gregory, who advises business leaders and boards on how to create compelling company identities in times of great change.

The founder and CEO of The Impossible Institute, Gregory says that most people are fixated on change management and resilience, neither of which are successful strategies.

“Resilience makes for good movies – with the athlete falling at the last hurdle, picking himself up and going on to greater glory. But in the workforce, when someone falls, we say ‘suck it up, princess’ and expect them to push on. As a result, our workforce is exhausted.”

While resilience no longer cuts it, Gregory says businesses should be aiming for agility.

“We need to move from mental toughness to mental flexibility. Only then will we see change as an opportunity, not a threat.”

Gregory points to the property industry as an example.

“Ten years ago, if you were looking to buy a house, you had to go into real estate agent’s office or look through the weekend papers.

“Today, you’ve gone online, looked at what’s available, assessed the price fluctuations in your market, gained a pre-approved loan through a click of a button and undertaken a virtual tour – and you haven’t even spoken to a human being.”

In this brave new world, the real estate industry “must provide value to the marketplace beyond just listings,” Gregory explains.

Recognised by the 1.5 million Australians who watch the ABC’s Gruen Planet, Gregory has developed new product lines for Coca-Cola and Unilever, invented new media formats for Murdoch Magazines, and launched campaigns for brands as varied as Aussie Home Loans, the National Rugby League, News Ltd, Vodafone and MTV.

He says the rapid changes in every industry “is causing people to panic.”

“The way we once made money is no longer working. The margins are contracting, the nature of business is changing. Product industry companies are moving into the service industry. We’re having to reinvent business models – and it takes a shift in thinking and capacity to pivot. A lot of people find this very uncomfortable.”

Look at the education industry, he says, which finds teachers trying to prepare students for a world that doesn’t yet exist.

“If most businesses can’t predict what they’ll be doing in five years’ time, how can we expect to teach our kids what to expect?

“Working harder is not the answer. Because we are just digging harder in the same spot.

“Think about Kodak – a brilliant company that didn’t know what business it was in. The Kodak people thought they were in the photography business, but they were actually in the memory preservation business.”

This inability to understand a shifting market cost Kodak its business.

The question every organisation must ask itself is simple: what is the real value exchange with our customers? 

“It’s that question that informs what business you are in,” Gregory says.

“It also requires a shift in the way we work. We have spent the past years beating the creativity and individuality out of people to get homogenous performance, which was fine when we were working in an industrial model.”

Now, as personalisation occupies prime space, choice is more important.

“We once operated in an environment with one telco and one choice. We had four big banks and four choices. This is changing.

“Those that are rigid and like predictability will struggle, but those with a creative mindset can embrace change.

Gregory thinks that the secret is not invention, but innovation. It’s about transferring technologies and ideas from one industry to another.

“Think about Tontine – which saw the opportunity to put use-by dates on pillows,” he says. Since introducing the ‘freshness stamp’ on all Tontine synthetic pillows – something found on food products for decades – there has been a 20 per cent increase in the number of Tontine pillows bought each year.

“Looking outside the property sector will increase your ability to think in new ways,” he urges.

And it may well turn ‘impossible thinking’ into an industry-wide epidemic.

Dan Gregory will reveal more insights during ‘WTF? What The Future?’, his session at Property Congress 2015, from 18-20 October at the Gold Coast. While conference tickets are sold out, networking tickets are still available.