Resistance to change

Next post Wednesday Feb 15th

So here is Mario Monti, actual Italian Prime Minister, discussing about the new culture of job.

He said some time before this interview that  Italian guys should be more used to change their jobs frequently and should not be maniac about permanency, which was what their fathers, and especially their grand fathers were aimed to.

He needs to explain because what he said –maybe with a too ironic tone- caused a true hurricane.

I do not want to discuss that diatribe, but I’d like to point out something that Monti said that could be relevant to our goal: understand better Italy for business purposes.

He said “Italians are too afraid of changes, they do not want to change, they mistrust changes”. That’s unfortunately dramatically true.

There are two main mistakes Italian entrepreneur use to repeat constantly, and we can depict them with these two frequent sentences:

“Our products are the best in the world: (si vendono da soli - they can be sold without any effort)”.

“We always did it this way (abbiamo sempre fatto così!)”.

Now when you came to sell to Italy you should understand this and have a very clear strategy to overcome this resistance.

Either you look for those entrepreneurs who are not afraid to change and who, on the contrary, leverage the changes to win an added value

or

find a logical and invincible demonstration why your clients should make a change, explain them that is no more time to sit down, relax and take it easy….

Any suggestions or comment to share?

Neither Monti nor Schettino: that’s the real Italy.

Next post Monday Jan 30th

Yes, we know, we are used to be described as romantic and unreliable opportunist. A mix between an artist, even in the worst sense of the word, an innovator, a genius, a latin lover with no scruples nor cares and definitely without sense of honor.

We are not that. Not everyone. I’m not saying that the description does not fit to some Italian, but you can find even in Germany people that can be described that way.

The tragic disaster of the cruise ship Costa Concordia unfortunately brought to the scene another dramatic icon, that commander who seems to have played all the nasty and frarful characters of the movie and literature history, from Lord Jim to  commander Philip Francis Queeg. 

Schettino almost become a new insult, if not the label to depict an old way of life.

But the acid journalist who loves to trap Italy in this symbol too easily forgets the members of the crew who stayed there till the end, helping passengers and even giving their life for them.

We are no more an hard working country, we are no more the “italiani brava gente” (nice and good people) as we were known in the XX century, and those who are responsible for this change, this shift toward selfishness will receive what they deserve, but we are still a people that know how to strive toward  the light.

We cannot even be represented by our present prime minister, which is too English and to professorial to truly embody the typical Italian guy. I’m not blaming him neither suggesting a political evaluation, just offering that his sober loden does not exactly talks of Italy.

Who are we then?

The simple, hidden people who wakes up every morning, take a breath to forget all the worries that night set down in her/his hearth, looks outside the window trying to solve the cold winter in a hopefully spring, and start working hard and professionally in whatever she/he is involved, better say committed.

Like this profound and powerful trailer, realized by Fiat, suggests.

We deserve your trust and respect, believe me.