In the dog-eats-dog world of today, if you go around and see every hook and corner your city or the state or the country you are residing in, the large fish just swallows all other smaller fish. The one with the well planning, pro-activeness, implementation and execution scales up the business chain and the turnover. One of the most important trait that one can have in a changing economy is the ability to be adaptable. That’s what will put you ahead of the others. Many often we hear people saying to others, “Oh, they are just stuck in their old ways.” Well, if move over the traditionalists, you will better clear the path for the modern thinkers. This is the time to beat the competition. Create your own blue ocean strategy or carve a niche for yourself.

I can remember when Facebook first came out. I was not using it at the beginning of it as I was perfectly contented with my old Orkut account and I wanted nothing to do with this new social media approach. It looked different, it was confusing, and I didn’t want to take the time to learn it. Finally when I was in the middle of my college times, I gave in my thoughts. EVERYBODY in my college was doing it, so did I.

There are a lot of things we do because other people are doing the same. Facebook was one of the many things I had said I’ll never do, but then gave in because others were doing it (wearing skinny jeans and drinking the CCD or Starbucks coffee are on that list as well). Since then, I’ve realized the benefit of jumping on trends before they become the norm. I’m not talking about fashion here, unless you’re a fashion entrepreneur, then you can relate this to skinny jeans all you want.

What if we had the ability to see what would be popular in a matter of weeks, months, or even years? Well, we do! Although it’s not full proof, we have the technology to see what people are talking about in real time. With the use of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and all the other social media sites, we can see what people like, at the instant they like it or talk about it.

If we want to grow in society, we have to be forward thinking. The other day, I heard someone talking about how Facebook finally forced them to have the new “timeline” profile. This was some five years back I remember. I hated the idea of the timeline at first, it was weird. At the same time, I knew that Facebook was heading in this direction and that eventually everyone would have this profile. So I voluntarily got the new profile while it was still an option, and I adapted to it. Surely, I could have waited until later when Facebook would have forced me to have it, but then I’d be behind the curve. The fact of the matter was that everyone would already be used to it, while I would have still started to learn it.

We can apply this same scenario to the business world. Employers want adaptability. I have always said there is only so much we can learn by reading a textbook, but the ability to be creative and forward thinking is a skill-set that will put you ahead. It is a gamble trying to anticipate what will be the trend in the future, but the risk often equals the reward.

And since then, Facebook had no turning back. With the ever-changing technology and new features, acquisition of Whats-app and the new customized live video sharing and numerous other options, it became the unique thing in today’s time. It reminded me of the thing that if you are competent, you will be the number one, and if you are unique, you will be the only one.  In order to grow, we must be able to change. We can stay doing the same old thing day after day, or we can adapt to make ourselves competitive in a growing market. There is a constant need to update our skills, revamp our attitudes, and never cut the ties with what keeps us motivated. In short, if the world is moving slowly, you better run fast to catch up with the time. As came the tough times of demonetization  in some countries like India and Venezuela; the people who made the best use of this time in revamping their policies or re-engineering their processes, are the ones who would be scaling and projecting their businesses to new heights.

So now, that’s all for today’s short soft skills capsules. Keep on writing about your suggestions or feedback to the undersigned. Really love to read them all.  Keep 

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Cheers,

Motivator Dr. Shekhar Kapoor