Marc Cooper is the Chief Executive Officer of Solomon Partners, a leading investment banking advisory firm founded in 1989.
Change is rarely sweeping. Most of the time, it’s incremental—a tweak here, a course correction there. But every so often, circumstances demand something far more disruptive: a radical rethink of how we operate, invest and lead.
Whether it’s an individual confronting a personal crisis or a board steering a company through turbulence, the same pattern emerges. We hesitate. We rationalize. We lean toward the status quo. And only when pressures build to an undeniable tipping point do we accept that the old ways no longer work.
This reluctance isn’t unique to business. Institutions and even nations show the same instinct. In the U.S., there’s an animated debate—one that spans political lines—about fiscal discipline and the future of trade and national security arrangements. These aren’t easy conversations. They involve tough trade-offs and a willingness to question long-standing assumptions. Yet history shows that avoiding them can carry far greater long-term costs.
Don’t ignore the warning signs.
In my professional experience, the corporate world offers powerful lessons here. Big companies in trouble often wait too long to confront reality. They cling to legacy models, even as market signals flash red.
But there are cases where bold, early action made the difference. Microsoft’s pivot to cloud computing, under Satya Nadella’s leadership, evolved it from a software giant into a growth leader worth roughly $4 trillion. Netflix’s reinvention from DVD rentals to the world’s most popular streaming service—and a content creation leader—required discarding a profitable but fading business.
Transformation is rarely linear, but it’s always necessary. These companies didn’t change because it was easy. They changed because the alternative was decline—or extinction.
Leave your comfort zone and embrace challenges.
Why is it so hard to take that first step? For boards, it’s often about comfort. There’s a belief that a downturn is temporary or that competitors’ gains won’t last. For policymakers, it’s the political risk of backing painful reforms. For individuals, it’s fear of what comes next.
But markets, like geopolitics, don’t wait for leaders to feel ready. Delays compound problems. In restructurings I’ve observed, the most painful outcomes came from the absence of decisive action.
When outside voices challenge an entrenched strategy, whether in the form of an activist investor or a new stakeholder, the reflex is to push back. Yet I’ve seen cases where those ideas, at first unwelcome, became catalysts for renewal. Policy debates work the same way: Good ideas often come from unexpected places.
Tackle change head-on.
The key is to treat change not as a threat, but as a discipline. Ask the hard questions early: Are we allocating capital wisely? Are we aligned with long-term shareholder—or national—interests? The answers may not be comfortable, but they often reveal the path forward.
Change is messy, iterative and sometimes only partially successful. But when it’s done with clarity and purpose, it can restore confidence and unlock value.
Leaders—whether in boardrooms or public office—who understand this truth tend to emerge stronger. They know resilience comes from facing the inevitable head-on.
Big change is hard. Ignoring it is harder.
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