Overcoming Stagnation for Competitive Advantage

Charter and Go was founded on the precept that we can never allow stagnation to be part of our vocabulary. We were founded by four leaders in the travel software space who have pioneered so many software innovations that I can’t count them. They always thought about how to make their systems better to optimize their customers’ business. It is this philosophy that makes Charter and Go an exciting place to work, with new ideas, approaches and features arising every day.

Stagnation is the archenemy of most companies, and they don’t realize it. After they launch their great new product, the team enjoys their success and profit. They make minimal improvements to their products, avoid risk, grow the staff beyond what is really needed and spend money freely. They don’t ask themselves what is the next great idea that will revolutionize our industry and how to we adapt to be able to get there.

If the leaders of any company (Fortune 500 or otherwise) don’t ask themselves these questions on a regular basis, they will fail to satisfy customers’ expectations which will lead to a shrinking customer base and loss of revenue. The next thing that will happen is an upstart will see an opportunity to come in and grab market share.

Here are questions to ask to avoid stagnation in an organization:

• What do my customers ask for?
• What do we think might make my customers’ lives better?
• Are we paying attention to events and changes, technology and business, in the industry?
• Are we working smartly and efficiently?
• Do we welcome new ideas?
• How do we identify and evaluate new ideas?
• Are we willing to assume risk?
• Do we reward change agents?
• Do our employees love coming to work? Are they happy? Are they growing?

Avoiding the corporate archenemy of stagnation may be a challenge but it is not impossible to address. Build an environment that is filled with energy, creativity and out of box thinking. Welcome new ideas that may seem odd and kick them about as they may evolve into a great idea. That is exactly what Charter and Go has done and we expect to continue this approach for a very long time.

Ann Vinod – VP of Finance