Why the Future Belongs to Those Willing to Change


There is a wonderful little book about change called Who Moved My Cheese?by Dr. Spencer Johnson. It tells a simple story about characters living in a maze who discover that the cheese they have depended on is suddenly gone.

One of the most memorable questions in the book is:

“What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”

It is a great question for franchise leaders to be asking today. Because somebody has definitely moved our cheese.

Change Is Everywhere

Consumers are changing. Technology is changing. Artificial intelligence is changing how we communicate, market, train, sell, analyze information, and make decisions. Employees have different expectations. Competition can emerge almost overnight. And ideas that seemed innovative only a few years ago can suddenly feel outdated.

Perhaps there has never been a period in business when so much change has happened so quickly.

For franchise organizations, that creates both an enormous challenge and an extraordinary opportunity.

What Was Normal Is No Longer the Status Quo

One of the greatest dangers in business is becoming comfortable with success.

When something has worked for 10 or 20 years, we naturally want to keep doing it. We develop systems, procedures, standards, and traditions around it. And franchising is particularly good at developing systems. After all, consistency and replicability are among the great strengths of the franchise model.

But there is an important distinction between consistencyandcomplacency.

We need consistent execution of the things that matter. But we cannot allow consistency to become an excuse for resisting innovation.

I have often seen organizations fall into the trap of saying, “Business is good. Why change?”

The better question is: 

“What do we need to change today so business will still be good five years from now?”

Success is not a destination. It is a never-ending journey. The strategies that got your franchise system where it is today will not necessarily be the strategies that take it where it needs to go tomorrow.

Your Consumer Is Already Changing

Consumers aren't waiting for franchise systems to catch up.

Their expectations are shaped by every great experience they have, whether that experience comes from a franchise, an online retailer, an app, a bank, a hotel, or a completely unrelated industry.

They increasingly expect speed, convenience, personalization, transparency, and seamless digital experiences.

That means we should continually ask ourselves:

  • “How is our customer changing?”

  • “What are customers going to expect from us three years from now?”

  • “What irritates customers about doing business with us today?”

  • “What would make the experience dramatically easier?”

And perhaps most importantly: 

“If we were creating our business today from scratch, would we create it the way it currently operates?”

That last question can be uncomfortable. It should be.

AI Is Moving the Cheese Again

Artificial intelligence adds another dimension to this transformation.

I don't believe the right question is, “Will AI affect my franchise?”

It already has.

The question is how.

AI is changing marketing, customer service, training, recruiting, productivity, data analysis, communications, and many other areas of business. And we are still in the early stages of understanding what it will ultimately mean.

  • Some leaders will respond by waiting.

  • Others will experiment, learn, ask questions, and discover how these technologies can improve their businesses.

I believe the second group will have an enormous advantage.

This is why I have long believed that curiosity is one of the greatest leadership traits. Great leaders don't assume they already have the answers. They continuously search for new and better ones.

The arrival of AI makes curiosity even more important.

We don't have to know exactly what the world will look like five years from now. Nobody does. But we need to be curious enough to explore it.

Franchising Has a Secret Weapon

There is something else franchise leaders should recognize: We have an extraordinary advantage when dealing with change.

We have franchisees. Think about the collective intelligence contained within a franchise organization.

Franchisees are talking to customers every day. They know what customers are asking for. They see new competitors entering their markets. They know which promotions generate excitement and which ones don't. They experience operational frustrations firsthand. Their employees see things management may never see.

That knowledge is an extraordinary strategic asset—but only if we listen to it.

Too many organizations make the mistake of developing an initiative at headquarters and then presenting the nearly completed idea to a Franchise Advisory Council for “input.”

That isn't meaningful involvement.

What Is True Involvement?

True Ingagement and involvement mean bringing franchisees into important conversations early enough that their ideas can actually influence the outcome. Advisory councils can help franchise organizations identify priorities, understand weaknesses and opportunities, and improve new concepts before significant resources have been committed.

When I helped lead the turnaround of Flooring America, Ingagement was central to our approach. We held town halls, created advisory councils and specialty councils, developed regional networking groups, and involved franchisees in building the plan. The organization grew from approximately 270 locations generating $700 million in system-wide sales to nearly 600 locations generating approximately $2 billion within four years.

We didn't have all the answers at headquarters. We found better answers together.

Don't Fear Change—Build a Culture That Looks for It

This brings us back to Who Moved My Cheese?

One of Johnson's memorable lessons is:

“Smell the cheese often so you know when it is getting old.”

That is remarkably good strategic advice.

  • Don't wait until sales decline dramatically to rethink your business.

  • Don't wait until franchisees become frustrated.

  • Don't wait until a competitor disrupts your market.

  • Don't wait until customers tell you that your experience feels outdated.

Look for the signals now.

Create task forces to study emerging trends. Ask younger employees what they see happening. Ask franchisees what customers are telling them. Experiment with AI. Talk to suppliers. Study industries completely different from your own. Give people permission to question assumptions.

Most importantly, create an organization where saying, “Maybe there's a better way” is rewarded rather than resisted.

Change should not be something that happens to your franchise system. It should be something your franchise system becomes exceptionally good at creating and navigating.

The Future Is Waiting

I don't know exactly what franchising will look like 10 years from now. Neither does anyone else. But I am confident about one thing: It won't look exactly like it does today.

The winners will not necessarily be the organizations with the most locations, the longest histories, or even the strongest current business models.

The winners will be the organizations that remain curious, listen carefully, involve their people, anticipate change, experiment intelligently, and continuously ask:

What do we need to become next?

The cheese is going to move.

The question is whether we will sit where it used to be—or head into the maze together and discover what comes next.

To Learn More about Mastering Change

I invite you to read my book Ingaging Leadership: The Ultimate Edition. Available at booksellers everywhere and at Amazon.com.