Recently, I reconnected with an old friend. A mutual friend had told me of the strife our friend had experienced over the past few years so I sought to look him up and check in. When I asked how he was doing he said, “Not much has changed. How about you?”

We had a national election here in the United States this week. The past few years have been full of strife. There were, and are, plenty of important issues that need attention, debate, and resolution. We had a long and hard fought campaign on every side. So, how are we doing? Not much has changed.

We have the same administration in The White House. The Democrat party still controls the Senate. The Republican party still controls the House. We have the same important issues that need attention, debate, and resolution.

If you loved the results produced in the past four years or if you hated the results produced in the past four years, you can expect pretty much the same thing for the next four years. Not much has changed.

Before I continue, this is not a political blog. There are plenty enough of those to go around! I’ll confine my current observations and thoughts to leadership, business and the economic reality we all face. If you’re interested in the connections between politics (as manifested by elected officials) and leadership, I’ve covered those issues before, here and here.

Let’s take a quick look at our current economic reality (regardless of political affiliation, we all have to live and work in this economy). Has there been any change in the global economic condition? No. Any changes in the “gi-normus” U.S. national debt? No. Any new ideas or approaches been mentioned by any responsible government leader? No (generally, just denial of the problem). Any mention of change in monetary policy, Fed chairmanship, Treasury directorship, Senate or House committee leadership or philosophy, any reason to make you think banks will be actually lending money anytime soon? No. Not much has changed.

My economic crystal ball is broken. Even so, I can’t say that I didn’t see economic problems all around and more coming. Neither can you.

So, what are you going to do?

At best, “if you do what you’ve always done you’ll get what you’ve always had” (a tip of the hat to Zig Ziglar for the quote). If you’re happy with what the past four years produced in your organization, you shouldn’t change much. If you’re not happy, you might want to stick around for the next few blog posts.

I can’t write a prescription that will relieve every possible business ill, especially in a series of blog posts. Situations are unique. I will, however, give you a few things to think about. Not much has changed. Perhaps you should.

In Other Words…

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” – Albert Einstein

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” – Voltaire

“Poirot,” I said. “I have been thinking.”
“An admirable exercise my friend. Continue it.”  ― Agatha Christie, Peril at End House

“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” – Steve Jobs

In The Word…

“Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” – Matthew 9:17