Change

In business literature, this has to be one of the most commonly addressed topics. Evolution, whether its economic, technological, or biological, enables people to adapt to the environment. Since the environment changes without regard to the comfort level or adaptability of people, the burden to change rests upon people as individuals, groups, and ultimately populations.

The process of change can be viewed in two ways: inside-out and outside-in. The latter is comprised of endless trials, innumerable errors, extensive documentation, probabilities, major resource investments, and most importantly, hope. The former is the result of enlightened action; a "knowing" of exactly how to respond to a particular change in the environment, avoiding trial and error. In considering biological evolution, Darwinianism is an example of the outside-in approach. Mutations, most of which are unsuccessful, fail until one ultimately succeeds at helping an organism adapt to its environmental conditions. In business, however, market research and analysis provides us with a view of the market environment; a luxury not available to living organisms that don't have access to the Weather Channel. A company's response to market conditions is not a "shot in the dark" as it is in evolution, but rather a calculated action with probabilities of success associated with it. Such "enlightened" change can only occur through an accurate view of the market conditions. The accuracy of that view, then, is paramount.