Waiting for a Root Canal - 2007

Yesterday was my first trip to an oral surgeon for a root canal. Never having had the experience before, I only could anticipate the event based on the stigmas of fear and loathing that are associated with it. Ringing in my ears were phrases such as, “the only thing worse is a root canal,” “that was almost as painful as a root canal.” Really, when you get down to it, it’s a fear of pain. Anticipated pain is often worse than actual pain. I just wanted to get it over with.
The office was running behind due to someone else’s troublesome teeth. This gave me the opportunity to enjoy an extra hour of anticipation. I’d forgotten my reading glasses so reading the available magazines was out of the question. There was, however, a TIME Magazine with a “Year in Pictures” section. After looking at the TIME’s Year in Pictures (all pictures of global carnage and despair), my mood had not improved. Since I was alone in the waiting room, I picked up Vogue to look at the pictures—looking at Vogue seemed un-masculine and I was a little afraid of being caught in the act. Then again, the glossy magazine was filled with beautiful women wearing beautiful clothes. Suddenly it didn’t seem so bad to spend a little time with Vogue.
I’ve written many times in this publication that we aren’t in the plant business but in the home décor and gift business. I’ve recently made the decision to try to elevate our products to something I’m calling “home fashion.” The difference between home décor and home fashion will be the amount of intellectual property that comes from expert design. Vogue is all about fashion. Hundreds of pages of advertising are aimed at the fashion-buying public. Each designer label has a presence in its pages (which are frequently numerous). The advertisements announce new designs with the hope that consumers will like what they see and purchase it.
Every few months these companies have to completely change their offerings in order to keep customer interested and buying. Enormous effort goes into initial design, promotion, and manufacturing all on speculation that the designer has anticipated the needs and desires of the market well enough to at least break even—hopefully, they’ll make a profit. When all the stars line up, a success produces millions in profit. But then there’s the next season to prepare for. Endless cycles of relentless innovation characterize the fashion industry. Clothes weren’t the only thing promoted in Vogue. Fragrances with stunningly beautiful packaging populated many pages. What can you do to design an increasingly attractive little bottle? A great deal apparently. I’m certain the bottle often costs more to make than its contents.
Does this remind you of our industry? Um, well, no. Can we change and start to compete in the larger fashion world? The difficult word is change. Humans don’t like change even if it’s for the better. Humans fear change to an unreasonable degree. We’re comfortable with what we know. Change can cause pain, and we fear pain more than we realize. Even small changes can throw an organization into spasms of self-inflicted agony. Most of the pain is caused by the struggle between the need for change and the powerful resistance to change. This is the old absolute force meets absolute resistance condition. People in-between feel like they’re being crushed to death. Companies unable to change will find themselves serving fewer and smaller markets. This includes retailers and growers. Companies that embrace rapid changes that serve the market better will get more business.
All of the changes I’m talking about are risk intensive. It’s the same in every industry. For Purina, the big question is, “Will the dogs eat the food?” In floral, it’s, “Will people buy the product and then be satisfied with the experience enough to buy again?” We know product introduction, especially with a fashion component, is very risky. Business is risky. That’s why we can make a profit or a loss depending on how we manage risk.
Avoiding inevitable change is like postponing a root canal. The pain will not go away, it will only get worse. The alternative to taking any risk is a slow and painful deterioration.