Dealing with Change: How to Overcome an Ignorant Mindset

"Change is the only constant in life," is a phrase attributed to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, and I think we in the profession can agree wholeheartedly with that statement.

From the pandemic to shifting funeral preferences, change is something that we cannot control. But we can control our response to it.

Did you know that nearly every funeral director responds to a changing situation in one of three ways? They either ignore it, react to it, or anticipate and prepare for it.

I'm sure we've all purposely ignored change from time to time. Maybe you resisted getting a LinkedIn account because you felt it wasn't necessary. Perhaps you now notice a shift in funeral preferences with your families but aren't quite sure what next step to take to serve them, so you put off thinking about it until absolutely necessary. That's completely understandable. Even part of human nature.

The fact is, ignoring change only works for so long until you're forced to react to it.

As this title suggests, we'll focus on what it looks like when funeral professionals ignore changes happening around them. If this has been you in the past, don't worry. There are many ways to start applying innovative ideas at your funeral home.

The Ignorant Mindset

A little over a decade ago, the funeral profession started to experience rapid change. Some wanted to cling to old methods when experiencing change because it seemed like the safest option. And while this may have been true to start, it was not always the smartest option in the long run.

When experiencing change, people with an 'ignorant' mindset ignore the problem. Take a look at an example of a successful company that once failed to succeed because it ignored changes taking place around them.

Sticking with the way things have always been done: The story of Kodak

Kodak, the once-mighty film giant, developed the technology for the first digital camera but didn’t release one for 20 years. Steve Sassoon was the Kodak engineer who developed the prototype. When he presented the idea to the board, they said, “That’s cute - but don’t tell anyone about it.”

Kodak went on to get over 1,000 patents for their digital technology but never used them. Why? Because they made a lot of money selling film and wanted to keep it that way. The board could see change coming (people wanting digital photos), but instead of embracing it, they fought against it. You might even say they ignored it.

They wanted to do what they had always done: sell film. And we know how that turned out.

Having an ignorant mindset doesn’t mean you act out of stupidity or foolishness, but more so that you ignore the changes happening around you. Funeral homes with an ignorant mindset put their needs first and ignore the needs of their families.

I’m sure you’re thinking ‘I would never do that’, and we would hope not. But in reality, an ignorant mindset puts their method over their mission. For Kodak, while we don’t know their exact mission, we could guess that it had something to do with capturing memories. Which does that better: film or digital? Film can break down, be destroyed, or even be lost. Digital, as long as it’s backed up, is timeless. So, why did Kodak refuse to embrace digital photography? Their methods (selling film) became more important than their mission (helping customers capture memories).

If you hold tightly to your old processes and refuse to do anything different, you’ll likely miss an opportunity to meet families where they’re at - damaging chances of relationships. 

A new way to think about change

Download The Innovative Mindset: a new way to think about change to find a new perspective on how to deal with the changes taking place in our industry, along with tips and sources on how to begin innovating at your funeral home business - some ideas even cost $0 implement!