I’m That Guy Now!

At my recent birthday celebration, I heard my kids huddle everyone up to get a picture of the grandkids with Pops (that’s me). It was like an out-of-body experience. Instantly, I became “that guy.” You know, the guy or gal that everyone wants to take a picture with because they represent the older side of our friendship or family. Taking photos to capture our memories and demonstrate our love for those we fear we may soon lose.

The picture for this blog is the exact moment when it happened. It was my 60^th birthday celebration with my kids and grandkids.  From left to right, we have Kylie, Sullivant (youngest), Davis (oldest), Dabs and Kyler (missing Shealy Kate). 

So, as my ears were echoing with “let’s get a picture with Pops,” it hit me like a ton of bricks—I’m that guy now! Change is gradual, until it isn’t! I have been getting older but until this point in time, I had not been the guy where everyone is intentional about capturing the memories with you. It happened overnight and it shocked me. I don’t want to be that guy! I want to be loved, included and in the picture, but not that guy.  It was a weird and quick transformation for me. Ha! But life is fast and we should treat every day and every picture as precious. We are not guaranteed the next Kodak moment. 

Speaking of Kodak—a company that clung to a business model that became dated and sadly irrelevant—with today’s transformation, lots of business models, services and companies will find themselves becoming “that company” overnight. The company or business model or service that is sitting on the sideline, captured only in distant memories as someone has disrupted their business model. Maybe these questions will help us stay clear of a “Kodak” moment. 

1. What are we presently doing that might not be relevant going forward?
2. What services or products are most likely to be replaced or reinvented by NEW competition?
3. How is technology changing what our customers/clients need from us?
4. What are the new opportunities that keep us “young” and relevant as a company?
5. What hard trends will impact our business regardless of what we do or don’t do?

The difference between my aging into that guy and our businesses evolving into that company is that we can anticipate and impact the coming change to our business models. This provides us the opportunity to stay young as a company by reinventing ourselves. If we don’t take the lead, someone else will take that picture for us.