Resistance

Great businesses understand the context in which they operate and make clear the change that they bring.

Zara wanted to change the fashion market, but by pulling instead of pushing, by helping people to access the fashions they wanted to wear.

They understood the context and the culture in which they were operating, the status associated with fashion, the resistance to wearing clothes that people feel are not for them, the difficulty of imposing fashion trends designed in London or Milan.

Zara understood the people they wanted to serve, but also the context and the culture of their particular industry.

If you’re bringing change, if your product or service brings something new, what is it? Are you asking your customers to do something different? To be part of a different culture? What is the culture of the industry in which you work?

Change brings resistance: you will need to understand what part of the culture is resisting. What sector of the industry? What is the cultural context of “business as usual”? Who is ready for the change? But most of all, what are you changing, and for whom?

Picture by Martin.mutch

#fashion #resistance