Revolution or Evolution?
In business, do we need evolution or revolution?
The distinction of the two is essential and one that we misuse easily linguistically and within a business to the detriment of achievement and progression.
We review this adaption and edit of the chapter of Leadership or Leadershit and its eight faces of leaders. This edit covers the examples of revolutionary actions and outcomes for business and how we can look at evolution as the day-to-day business operation, and revolution is the long term strategy.
The first review of revolution or evolution is the famous McDonald's Hamburgers story; two brothers wanted to evolve the diner scene. The eventual evolution transformed fast food in the USA. The power of modern brands that have all had a definitive effect on our local landscape. The golden arches were one of the first.[1] But was this evolution or revolution? Business gurus never agree on this. Some see it as the next thing on an evolution step, the evolving face of fast food, while others like me see this as a total revolution because back in the 1950s, it was a massive revolutionary idea that took a while to take hold. However, once it did, there was nothing to stop it from becoming a monster of fast-food concepts, defining the new wave of 20th-century food and dining that is now accepted as usual and evolves to customer needs, not revolutionary. The revolution takes times, and sometimes, the McDonalds revolution as a business transpires from removing waitresses with self-service. Pre-cooked food in its inception in 1954 to the Golden Arches and Ronald McDonald Mascot in 1963 to its now iconic and global food names Big Mac (1968), the Egg McMuffin (1973), Happy Meals (1979), and Chicken McNuggets (1983), over 30 years the business evolved through revolutionary concepts of dining. The revolution came from thinking and doing, from 1954 of one site to franchise sites and in 1988 10,000 sites, with over 35,000 locations. Kroc being the revolutionary actor of push and do, creating change and thinking BIG. The Brothers wanted to stay small, family, and relatively local their evolution was to grow yet to retain a small concept.[2]
The evolution or revolution is one business mind that believed in evolving and another into revolution. I cannot see Ray Kroc signing up for the gentle as we go next step option. He was a risk-taker and probably no less visionary than the McDonald brothers in business, but here was the difference. The brothers believed in evolution and would never have pushed ahead like Ray Kroc, but Kroc made all the money because his revolutionary approach created the growth, impact and results.
Which type of Leader would you choose to be if it was a simple choice to make today? Revolutionary or evolutionary?
Leaders who evolve acquire interest. Leaders that create revolutionary growth (with a strategy in place) demand action and activity, usually getting everyone's full attention through clarity of purpose and long-term focus. Yes, some revolutionaries crash and burn, but the successful words typically supersede people's wildest dreams, including their own. Revolution explored by Joost Minnaar and Pim de More, their concept of being a corporate rebel[3]; a revolutionary approach based on purpose before profit. They studied business from Haier, Fujitsu, Einhorn, Danish government to Patagonia. All have seen massive success in business that applies the idea and thought-provoking view of work, psychological safety, and employees' decision making success. Through product to the customer to delivery and its approach, we love at RLC.[4]
Exploring other business that has transitioned through evolution to revolutionary is:
Swiss Watches
Watches have a long and respectable history in the marketplace[5]. The first watch was considered to have been invented as long ago as 1535[6]. For many centuries and, up until the 1960s, watches were mainly mechanical, had to be wound up by hand and represented the lion share of the marketplace that had dominated for a hundred years plus. In the 1950s, the ratio of mechanical to electrical was 50:1. In 1967[7], ten years into the change in battery-powered watches' design, the quartz watch changed the industry's face. This was to reduce the classic spring Swiss watch market share to 8% from 77%. The Swiss were the first to be shown the battery-powered watch, which they rejected as too revolutionary. They reasoned that the consumer was still in love with wind up and, after all, whoever heard of a watch with a battery! They preferred to slowly but surely evolve. Consumers and the market disagreed. Revolutionary.
Suzuki [8]
Initially, they made weaving loom machines in 1909, designed to power the silk industry. Mr Suzuki was an inventor at heart. He developed the insight and desire to what has become the brand's primary focus today, with a complete guide that is applied today in the 100+ years later, focusing on what the customer needs first and retaining this in philosophy and its production of high-performance motorcycles and sports vehicles. Revolutionary.
Avon – Cosmetics
Salesperson David McConnell used to sell books door to door in 1886. He changed the focus to selling perfume door to door as the business grew. Its evolution took a long time, 1886-1909 the again not overnight. In 1879 the first “Avon” lady, Persis Eames Albee, started her role and recruited as they sold (was then called the California Perfume business). Avon now[9] has up to 6 million sales representatives operating in over 100 countries as of 2014. Avon and its subsidiaries have 40,000 to 50,000 employees.
The evolution was selling books to selling what women would want – makeup and perfume. The concept and action were revolutionary, with it now a $5billion turnover global business.
Patagonia
1957, Yvon Chouinard started climbing as a 14-year-old. By the age of 17, he couldn’t find the equipment he wanted, so he bought a forge and made his own. He then opened a store and sold it while he travelled. The evolution was a partnership and changing every element of climbing equipment. By 1970, Chouinard Equipment had become the largest supplier of climbing hardware in the United States. Again, the revolution took time and through steps of evolution. Patagonia is known for its environmental impact and the rebels that they are as a business. The result was to change the climbing equipment material to be more ecological and damage the rocks they wanted to climb. 1972 started selling clothes. This created a revolution in the production and creation of climbing clothing from owning their own cotton business by 1994, the style and fabric all evolving even today. Patagonia's revolution is its approach, purpose before profit, commitment to cause first, and its evolution is the product to the employee to the customer. With over 70 global stores and a turnover of over $350million its philosophy and revolutionary concepts and production prove purpose first works.
Starbucks Coffee - One Store at a time [10]
Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, visited Italy in 1983 and fell in love with coffee culture and the Milan espresso bars. He wanted to take it back in some way to the USA and sell it in European style coffee-houses one store at a time. It was a recipe that changed the face of coffee in the USA and the world today, with currently Starbucks having over 25,000 stores worldwide, created by one store at a time. We have evolved from a cup of lukewarm coffee under a few pence to the regularity of £2 per cup and more, to coffee big instrumental in workspace and meetings. The evolution of the store sites from 1 in 1985 to the 32,000 in 80 countries. The concept of changing the value of coffee, its importance to the consumer and its relevance – coffee and its connection. Revolutionary.
Leadership and Evolution- The Gradual Alternative
Think about how we evolved as humans. It took millions of years, and we are still changing today with the average height, weight and life span increases. However, we often perceive the word evolution as something complex and clever, while revolution is seen as something spontaneous and dangerous.
Author Daniel Pink[11] argues that in businesses today, people are looking for:
Autonomy: people are looking for work that's interesting, curious and self-engaging
Purposeful: our' why?' that we've already discussed
Self-Mastery: the desire to get better at something that matters[12]
How do we get people to do this? There is a word that many leaders avoid application of (and what Leadership or Leadershit was written for is the desire to retain ego and hierarch within leadership). This wonderful word is empowerment.
The evolution of a leader who wants to create revolution is empowerment. The distinction of progression from evolution to revolution provides the conditions that give someone the space to be empowered and rely on the employees and teams to act on the necessary actions.
Wherever you are in the world, people dedicate their time and focus to many self-improvement areas away from the working environment. I was once talking to a sales agent who works in Egypt, working for my cell phone provider. The agent was engaging, working full time in the business whilst studying to be a vet. This was a great example of someone working even more hours for a future goal. This particular brand recognised this and offered contributions to his educational costs—result engaged team member.
The evolution first step is forming a more significant movement in your culture, in your leadership, in your company.
RLC Leadership Rule 1, model the behaviour you will ask of others tomorrow, today yourself first.
Being a leader who does what they say. Who commits first, stays focussed and consistent, puts their people at the top of the list, internal and externally. This is a game-changer in modern-day leadership.
The evolution in your leadership leads to a revolution over time. However, revolution is very different and a significant change in the way people do things.
Margaret Mead has been quoted as saying:
“ ”Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever did.” [13] ”
Mead quote isn’t validated to her acclaim. It's her, and it's a mishmash of many all coming into one. Ultimately, the passage highlights the need to recognise that you need the collective to evolve and revolutionise as a leader.
The world needs a Leadership Revolution that takes the subject back to how it was first intended. We stop trying to intellectualise everything, trying to make something sound better than it is. Stop trying to make it something you have to strive for and instead make it something we can do.
Real Leadership is the purpose of RLC and our team that will exist over the next twenty to thirty years at the very least.
We have a purpose of being the symbol of REAL leadership worldwide. To be a force for good in each community, we interact with and to enthuse and energise as many others as possible on the way. This is how we will evolve through our different iterations, growth, collaborations, and revolutionising how others think and do.
Summary
By all means, evolve but do not apply evolution to crucial things that matter for long term success. Evolution is daily, revolution is legacy.
Do we want a cancer cure in a few hundred years or the next couple of years?
Do we want to discover life on other planets and galaxy?
Do we want to create transient hybrid workplaces and work patterns that revolutionise the evolution of Covid?
Do you want to create a product that benefits your clients and has the most negligible environmental impact for future generations?
Do you want to be a great leader by your retirement day or in the next 100 days?
Do you want a legacy business or one that doesn’t have a purpose?
Revolution doesn't need specialist knowledge, new skills or subversive secret meetings. (There are enough of these already going on in most companies!) It requires boldness, open minds, a willingness to consider the ridiculous and extraordinary and the desire to dive off the high leadership diving board of your mind.
Your business can survive, grow and be as it evolves to progress. To lead and revolutionise your business, your leadership skills need:
Real and authentic behaviour role modelled
Selfish leadership development and receptiveness to feedback and personal growth
A mindset that is willing, open and agile, connected to many, not an expert, a generalist with interest and awareness
Inspiring yourself first to lead others with clarity, communication, conviction and transparency
Meaning and purpose clear, not chaotic and distorted, purpose before profit, people before revenue, customer needs before product.
“The more we see ourselves as a vibrant, successful and inspiring person who boldly declares and , manifest an exciting vision, the more likely we are to become just that”
Research, Notes and info
[1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/McDonalds
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygM3DFucj5o
[3] https://corporate-rebels.com/
[4] https://corporate-rebels.com/bucketlist/
[5] http://theindex.nawcc.org/Articles/Costa-historyo.pdf
[6] https://www.oldest.org/technology/watches/
[7] https://www.preceden.com/timelines/176017-evolution-of-the-watch
[8] https://www.osv.ltd.uk/brief-history-suzuki/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki#:~:text=The%20Suzuki%20Loom%20Company%20started,interrupted%20by%20World%20War%20II.
[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avon_Products#Business_model
Patagonia research https://www.statista.com/study/65902/patagoniacom-store-analysis/
[10] https://www.starbucks.co.uk/about-us#:~:text=Today%2C%20with%20more%20than%2032%2C000,Download
[11] https://www.danpink.com/about/
[12] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc
[13] https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/11/12/change-world/
