A ‘game changer’ is defined as being an event, idea, or procedure that effects a significant shift in the current way of doing or thinking about something.
I first heard the term uttered by then Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, in 2002. At the time, I didn’t know what it meant but it sounded exciting, revolutionary and progressive.
The term is now used on LinkedIn and in conference talks roughly once ever 2-3 hours. If everything that was said to be game changing actually was then:
- Would anyone still know what the game was?
- Would anyone still know how the game is played?
In reality, very little changes in the short term. The phrase ‘game changer’ is now used to describe anything that’s new.
Like most phraseology, it’s meaning is expanded, corrupted or bastardised to fit the agenda of the user of the term.
In accountancy, it’s mostly used in software sales, in order to make you think you’re being left behind. Sense check time, what has radically changed in your firm since last year? I’m guessing pretty much nothing.
If I’m right, then you can be sure to ignore anyone calling anything a ‘game changer’ especially if they’re in a sales role.
When it comes to the game and how to play it (copyright: Motorhead) here are the Bullets that you can count on:
- Legislation, regulation and very very occasionally; technological advancement are what changes ‘the game’. Otherwise, rest assured, the game is as it’s always been.
- Even when the game does change, it takes a long time for your clients to notice.
- In the unlikely event of a game being changed, the stronger your relationships are with your clients, the less it’ll matter and the more you’ll benefit if it does, anyway.
So, at the time of writing, cash is king, profit is sanity and client relationships are core. That represents a remarkable resemblance to an unchanged game.
But for someone to write that and point it out for your benefit? What a game changer!
To your success
Martin Bissett
