Certified Master Business and Executive Coach. Gain 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 in your business. Enjoy solid 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 a high performing team. Maintain a culture of 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁.
Reinvention or Decline – USS Antietam exemplifies how to navigate the Lifecycle of a Business Denial Trap. Pictured is a model of USS Antietam mounted inside Dahlgren Hall at the United States Naval Academy. Three ships have held the Antietam moniker. This is the first. The second was a post-World War II Aircraft Carrier. The third, a guided missile cruiser, is still in commission. Back to the OG. Antietam’s keel was laid in 1864, two years after its Civil War battle namesake. Designed as a sloop of war, she was still under construction as the conflict ended and remained partially complete until 1869. There she sat, a powerful hulk absent a mission. Returned to a single flag, our nation opted to complete her as an equipment storeship and then used her as a floating barracks for the rest of her service. Antietam serves as metaphor for the lifecycle of a business. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 business follows the cycle embedded in the attached image. The final gate contained therein is the denial trap. A business at this stage has been successful through all the stresses and frustrations of creation and growth and is then set with a new reality. The denial trap is where leaders must either reinvent (and start the cycle anew) or decline into obscurity. Those who fall to the latter are guilty of thinking, “I’ve been successful, the market just doesn’t understand me. It’ll work out!” Back to the mid 1860’s. The country was officially reunited. The “business” was successful. The warships product line faced a new reality. Continue the original plan or reinvent. Keeping it positive, I will not discuss multiple politically driven failures in maintaining/reconstituting our military following wartime. Specific to Antietam, it did not make sense to stay the original course. By transforming into a storeship and then barracks, she was able to perform a valuable role within the new reality. Consistent with the theme, Dahlgren Hall in which this model rests has undergone multiple reinventions since opening doors in 1903. Designed as an armory, the building has been used for everything from ice hockey to graduations to dances to networking. A random cool application a few years ago was when 2010 Navy graduate Jesse Iwuji used it as the backdrop for an official NASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Race (completed on professional-grade simulators). For well-established business owners out there, what proactive actions are you taking to ensure you are not merely resting on your laurels? How are you ensuring that your either remain a going concern or are attractive to a future buyer? If you are not ready to shift as the sloop to storeship Antietam did, give me a holler, we’ll figure it out. For more entrepreneurial musings, visit here: https://lnkd.in/eQt2pRnY Let’s build significance through business! #lifecycleofabusiness #entrepreneurship #businesscoaching #focalpoint #GVLstarts #StartupGVL #greenvillesc #innovation #reinvention
Jim Diebold
9mo
Well done, Jerry. Great story and I love how you were able to get the graphic in there.
Phil Gilkes
9mo
Interesting look at the Sigmoid Curve
VMS
9mo
Jerry Pilewski Thanks for Sharing 😁
finding inspiration everywhere!
Certified Master Business and Executive Coach. Gain 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 in your business. Enjoy solid 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 a high performing team. Maintain a culture of 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁.
9moI wonder if we can get a model like this for Upstate Warrior Solution to put in the Rupert Huse Lobby? I think Charlie Hall could hook that up 😀