The Commercial Modular Building Blog

Though many would argue from observation that the economy is still in bad shape (and to an extent it is still in a very fragile position), economic indicators are showing that the economy is slowly starting to recover, even on an international level.

Amidst all the shouting that has been going on amidst the midterm elections, the economy is quietly, cautiously recovering.

According to economists, global manufacturing activity has increased worldwide and retail sales are increasing at a faster rate than previously thought. 

On top of that, small businesses are reporting a cautious job growth but with less hours worked and less compensation than before.

Though all of this is good news, businesses are still waiting to hire in mass amounts, due to uncertainty about where the economy is going. Shouting for victory might not be appropriate yet, but economic indicators are showing low levels are growth, which is great news for business owners everywhere, not to mention great news for everyone else.

There are differing opinions on how a gridlocked Congress is going to affect this slow economic growth, as the recent power change will probably lead to a standstill among Congress members. Some economists believe it is best to let the economy carry on with its own healing, and then some economists believe that it is better to keep implementing policies to nurture the growth and make sure the economy doesn’t slip back into a double dip recession.

The next few years will be very interesting.

I recently spent some time with one of our customers who were making a change to one of their facilities. I asked him how the people were handling the change. His response was like many I’ve heard in the past. He said, “I don’t understand why people don’t want to change. I can’t figure out if they are lazy or just scared of what will happen.”

My response was very simple: “People are reluctant to change is a result of their peer groups’ ability to change.” He looked at me with a blank stare. I went on to explain further.

When a company goes several years without changing, that is the expectation that every employee has. When a company is continually changing, then continual change becomes the norm. Their peer group around them all feels the same way when change has never happened at the company. In other companies such as Google®, Microsoft®, Apple® and thousands of others who change daily, weekly, monthly and annually, change is the expectation. Change is the way they do business. Continue reading…