A study conducted by the
Shell Group showed that successful organizations had changed their ‘business
lanes' at least once in their lives.
Japan's Sumitomo
has its origins in a copper casting shop.
Swedish company Stora,
a major paper, pulp and chemical manufacturer, began as a copper mine more than
700 years ago.
The 200-year-old Du
Pont, which took off as a gun powder company, is now a speciality chemical
company.
Mitsui, 300 years
old, was a drapery shop. It moved on to banking, mining and eventually
manufacturing towards the end of the nineteenth century.
These organizations have managed to survive for so long only
because they did not resist change. They understood the fact that people are
more important than assets and money, and their security lay in surrendering to
the uncertainties that they
encountered in their journey of excellence.
Successful organizations are
willing to explore new ideas and options because they realize that it is the
only way to keep the doors to the future open.
