When I was growing up my brother and I used to jump the fence behind our house and run across the street to go to Blockbuster. If you were born this century you may not be aware that people had membership cards to stores such as Blockbuster that rented movies to people. Additionally, most of these movies were played in our VCRs. (If you don’t know what a VCR is go ask your mom or dad.) The last official rental at a Blockbuster was made in a Hawaii store at 11 p.m. on a Saturday, which was the last day to rent, according to Blockbuster’s Twitter account. Two store clerks posed with the man, all three holding up their own copies of the 2013 comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco titled, This is the End.
Last year, Sports Authority, which was a large retail sporting goods store, had to close its doors on all 463 locations. The retailer filed for bankruptcy due to competition and declining sales. We could discuss the business and economic factors that contributed to the failure of these two corporations all day, but that wouldn’t provide the insight I believe to be the most important lesson. United States General Eric Ken Shineski said, “If you dislike change, you’re going to dislike irrelevance even more.” In a world where technology moves at an incredibly fast pace, we need to challenge ourselves to keep growing and to continue to adapt.
If you’re like me and aren’t that tech savvy, leveraging the current technology and staying up to speed with the constant changes can be a daunting task. That said, in order to remain viable and in order to fulfill your purpose you will most likely be required to utilize technology in some way. Staying current is more than staying up on the latest smartphone or app. It also involves knowing your competition and what obstacles may present themselves. In order to sustain in the present you have to be able to see the future and learn from the past.
GATHER
Gather information. It is important to learn as much as you can about your craft, trade, skill, or business. The one thing that we can all control is how much of the available information we choose to take in. You can’t know what you don’t know. In most countries you have a plethora of means for accessing information. You can view online publications, Google relevant data, engage in online forums, or watch YouTube videos that will provide you with pertinent material. The best part is that you can do most of this for free. In this day and age there is little to no excuse for not being informed, especially in regards to something that you are passionate about. Laziness is a silent killer. “How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep— So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man” (Prob. 6:9-11). The only excuse we have for not gathering the information we need is laziness.
GAUGE
What does the information you’ve gathered mean? What are the implications of what you’ve discovered? First comes knowledge, then understanding and then wisdom. Wisdom is the rightful application of what you’ve learned. Knowledge without application is useless. Knowing 1+ 1 =2 is an important fact but knowing what to do with that knowledge is something completely different. We are bombarded with facts on a daily basis. However, most of those facts are useless to us. What we have to train our ears to be keen to listen for is how we can use the information we hear to facilitate our purpose. In other words, why are we listening? When you know this why, you will know what you are supposed to do and that is a primary step in fulfilling your purpose.
GROW
Once you’ve acquired the necessary information, you can begin to utilize it to make adjustments in how you operate. Sometimes this means redefining your vision. Other times it means tweaking an aspect of your product or service. Growth is a necessity if you don’t want to end up like Blockbuster or Sports Authority. Growth is about adapting to change and producing results throughout that adaptation. I have recently had to adapt to some professional changes but I am confident that I have gathered the proper information in order to make this process of growth occur without any growing pains.
“I want to grow. I want to be better. You Grow. We all grow. We’re made to grow. You either evolve or you disappear.” – Tupac Shakur