Look around at the state of risk-taking and the perfect storm of change that is racing towards us at breakneck speed. Playing it safe, has been a method of operation for far too long; maybe, it’s time to change the way we approach what we do.

When you purchase a new car, it seems that your only choices are black, or some shade of grey – plain vanilla. The recently revealed “color of the year” is Cloud Dancer (a shade of white ) – plain vanilla. When you review popular menus in restaurants, one of the most common items is a burger of some sort – plain vanilla. If a person is choosing to attend college whether for culinary arts, business, psychology, or economics, you will note that the curriculum is generally the same, so the difference lies in the environment for learning and the quality of faculty – plain vanilla. In all cases, it appears that we (most industries) are choosing to play it safe and hoping that they can ride it out until change moves on. These and many other industries may offer a “new and improved” version, a special proprietary twist, or maybe a different delivery method (in-person or on-line), but it all looks like a safe bet. To push the envelope is risky. The chance of failure is greater, and the adjustment needed by everyone is something to avoid. The problem is that no business ever made its mark or excited the marketplace by playing it safe.

Ben and Jerry’s offers plain vanilla ice cream but that is not what set them in the lead of a very crowded ice cream industry. Jimi Hendrix didn’t earn the admiration of millions by just playing the blues – he reinvented the blues and the way that people could play the guitar. Almost 60 years after his death he is still considered the greatest guitarist of all time. Charlie Trotter, Thomas Keller, Grant Achatz, and Dominique Crenn didn’t set the restaurant business on their heels by offering the same version of fine dining that their predecessors had. They shook things up and set a new standard for excellence and culinary excitement. Richard Melman had no desire to build a restaurant empire of sameness. Each of his restaurants is totally different reflecting an authentic ethnic theme and the physical location where it resides. And even Apple Computer in its heyday didn’t define a market by producing the same, boring computers or flip phones that were the industry standard – they chose to “think different”. Anything but plain vanilla.

We are living in the most dramatically changing time in human history. Technology is and will continue to substantially change how we live and how we operate businesses. Jobs will be eliminated, new ones will rise up; products will be designed that we can’t even imagine today, consumer habits will be re-aligned, and value will be shaken, stirred, and re-defined as AI runs through every industry, every product, and every individual business, flipping things upside down. Plain vanilla, playing it safe, will not suffice. In fact, playing it safe will be the kiss of death for businesses from transportation to education, and retail sales to restaurants. This is not the time to sit back and wait or hope that this will pass. This is the time to put aside plain vanilla and define a new direction for YOU! This is the time to define your own niche and be unique. This is the time to think beyond today and tomorrow, to do your research, to observe but act at the same time. This is the time to prepare for the 50-yard dash and less time training for the marathon. Fast, unique, groundbreaking, redefining, change, different, and wow are the words that should be associated with what you do and who you are. In some cases, it may mean returning to the way it was (reintroducing artisan craft), but in most cases it will mean taking substantial risk and if you fail, try something else right away. There is no time to hang on to failure and hope that things will change. Use failure as a learning tool and push the envelope a little further.

A better burger, spicier wings, or pizza with a different topping may have been the answer in the past, but it’s time to move on, research, test the waters, try something radical, but at least take a level of risk that makes you uncomfortable. This may just be the time when your approach should be: “If it ain’t broke, then break it!”

HAVE THIS DISCUSSION WITH YOUR TEAM TODAY! DON’T DELAY OR YOUR WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY WILL CLOSE.

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER

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