We all know that the lobster is a soft mushy animal that lives inside of a rigid shell. That rigid shell does not expand.
So, you might well ask, how do lobsters grow? Well, as the lobster grows, that shell becomes very confining, and the lobster feels itself under pressure and is deeply uncomfortable. It goes to look for a rock formation to protect itself from predatory fish, casts off the shell, and produces a new one. Eventually that new shell becomes very uncomfortable as the lobster grows again. Back under the rocks she goes. The lobster repeats this process numerous times.
The point is that stress and transformation can be deeply uncomfortable but this pain is a signal that it is time to grow.
Financial Services organisations do have painful times – it’s a fact. Whether the pain comes from growth, rationalization, business model changes, leadership changes or cultural change the pain is very real.
The parallel is that just as a lobster needs to shed its skin to evolve and grow so do businesses. The comfort zone is not an option.
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