Adaptability is an important factor in achieving our life purpose and goals in life. Nothing in life is predictable except change itself. To make a lasting impact we must learn to change and adapt to changing situations and circumstances.
“When a strong man, with all his weapons ready, guards his own house, all his belongings are safe. But when a stronger man attacks him and defeats him, he carries away all the weapons the owner was depending on and divides up what he stole” Luke 11: 21-22 GNB ”
Can the prey be taken from the mighty man, Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?” Surely, thus says the LORD, “Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away, And the prey of the tyrant will be rescued… Isaiah 49:24-25 NASB ”
“He will protect his faithful ones, but the wicked will disappear in darkness. No one will succeed by strength alone. 1 Samuel 2:9 NLT”
I love looking into the scriptures for principles that are applicable to everyday life. One fact that I found interesting is the fact that your size, strength and ability has limits and that on certain occasions they do not guarantee that you are going to win.
Business and politics proves times and again that people will not always win based on their size, strength or scale. We have seen how ruling political parties lose to weaker opponents despite their federal power, instruments and might.
In recent time, Nokia, a Finnish company dominated the smartphone industry/market. Almost everyone has used a Nokia phone at one time. Today, they have lost that position.
What happened to NOKIA?
Nokia concentrated on their market position. They didn’t realise that no position is permanent. They failed on adaptability.
The strength you have today may not be enough to help you survive tomorrow. You must learn how to adapt.
You must learn how to extend yourself beyond yourself. (If that makes any sense!)
Let’s look at Apple Inc.: They are an IT Company, ventured into creating iPhones, they partnered with Telecom companies, they collaborate with App developers and these help them to keep increasing their bottom-line and they remain strong. What about GOOGLE Inc.? They created Android OS, collaborated with Hardware partners and App developers and as a result got a big cut of the mobile phone/technology pie. These companies jumped ahead of NOKIA with all the experience, strength and scale.
Today, Nokia has been acquired by Microsoft.
What was the problem with Nokia? They were comfortable in their strength. No competitor could beat them but they eventually lost to a complex ecosystem.
During the press conference in which the former Nokia CEO announced the Microsoft acquisition of NOKIA, in tears, Stephen Elop said, at the end of his speech: “we didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost”.
Your success today is not a guarantee that you won’t fail tomorrow when the circumstance changes. Your decision to learn today how to adapt is you giving yourself chances of being in the game tomorrow.
“If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall” 1 Corinthians 10:12 NLT