Are you building walls or windmills?

“When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.” - Chinese proverb

How do you react to change? Like the Chinese proverb do you build walls to keep the wind out, or do you build windmills to harness the power?

Building walls is a common reaction to adversity. We often build barriers to keep the change or trend at bay. Or at least we hope they will be kept away.

Bookstores have been suffering due to online bookstores. According to Bloomberg same-store sales are either flat or growing by 1%. The Nook lost $98.6 million last year.

I recently read an article in Inc. that reported that Barnes & Noble is offering something that Amazon can’t. Instead of completing on price or speed of delivery, they are going to offer booze! Yes, beer and wine are on the menu along with best sellers and magazines.

I love this concept of harnessing the wind. Instead of fighting with the online stories, they are offering something different. They are going with the winds that people want to gather with friends over a beverage. That going to the bookstore can be an event.

I congratulate Barnes & Noble on their creativity. On their willingness to not give in and to try something new. I hope that Barnes & Noble makes money because they “built a windmill!”

How are you going to harness the wind when it starts blowing? What might your windmill look like?

Want to talk more about reacting to the winds of change? Valerie.MacLeod@HainesCentre.com

To read the entire article click here: Barnes & Noble Finally Found the 1 Thing It Can Offer Customers That Amazon Can't