The Deceptive Language Of Business Taking On The Dreaded New Normal

We've all heard of "the new normal" over the past few years. All in all, it's an utterly useless phrase. It's arguably worse than its close relation the "paradigm shift." The brief alliterative catchphrase very strongly implies there is a "normal" when it comes to business, the economy and consumer tastes. The phrase invites the naïve to believe there is a way things are supposed to be and that dramatic change happens quickly. While it may be true that many businesspeople sleep through significant change, meaningful changes does not happen overnight.

I'd go so far as to wager that those who believe in shifting paradigms and new normals are still on the fence about the tooth fairy. I also have a bridge I'd like them to consider purchasing.

It's not a mystery why some people think in such terms. It is an enormously appealing concept. Standards, constants and certainties provide an anchor for decision-making. They offer the convenient and comforting illusion of stability in an ever-changing marketplace. And, not coincidentally, they almost always reference bygone halcyon days when the business owner or manager was in exactly the right place at the right time -- at least for a little while -- and the world was as it should be. Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, just being lucky was enough.

Yet, at any given moment things are supposed to be exactly as they present themselves. They are as they should be because they are the logical and inevitable product of complex forces that include everything from technological innovation and currency exchange rates to demographics and population shifts. To be in business on a large or small scale is to be subject to constant change and constantly reacting to change. Granted, some of those changes may be slight, nearly imperceptible, but they are changes nonetheless.

Seen clearly, phrases like "new normal" and "paradigm shift" begin to sound like either excuses muttered in a corporate boardroom or a particularly unimaginative pitch for the latest in snake oil. That's because the paradigm is always shifting and normal is forever new.

To read the history of business is to see a vast landscape littered with companies that did not effectively adapt to change or simply made the wrong choices.

Take, for instance, RCA. One of the great American corporate giants of yesteryear, RCA was far ahead of the curve in developing Liquid Crystal Displays -- the now ubiquitous LCDs -- in the 1960s. But the company failed to capitalize on its lead. Internal politics coupled with a profitable cathode ray tube division seem to have been the villains. Other companies eventually stepped in to develop and aggressively market LCD products for the home and business with extraordinary successes. Squandering an impressive lead in LCD development probably did not end RCA's technological supremacy -- there were a number of factors that included a spectacularly ill-fated computer division -- but it certainly didn't help.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with visiting a past prior to perceived new normals and shifting paradigms. For business professionals of a certain age, the past is a pleasant sojourn, though no businessperson should look to it as a permanent residence or wish for its return.