Being a disruptive influence can be a lonely job. People are hard-wired to crave acceptance, and even if they hold an opinion that goes against the grain of conventional thinking, it is far easier to seek comfort in the company of the majority.
Ray Stasieczko knows a thing or two about going it alone when it comes to trends and the path to relevance in the office technology space. He’s been fighting the fight for more than 30 years, having spent time as a dealership owner, consultant and industry speaker whose views tend to lean disruptive. But it’s not that he’s seeking to be contrary for contrary’s sake. His vision of the industry’s future dictates that wholesale changes could well be in the offering in order for the dealership community to find its way forward.
“I am a disruptor, and sometimes disruptors are despised and sometimes applauded,” said Stasieczko, a 2020 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. “Many believe they are disruptive; however, their fear of being despised scares them into complacency as they seek being applauded. In my case, I don’t fear upsetting the status quo more than I fear being defeated by complacency.”
Is Stasieczko despised? That may be an extreme hot take for some observers, but he’s accumulated enough clairvoyant collateral to stave off most detractors.
- While addressing the 2017 RT Media Summit in China, Stasieczko laid out an argument in favor of HP buying Xerox to an incredulous audience, and roughly two years later it was Xerox that was pushing for a union of the OEMs.
- Stasieczko drew a standing-room-only crowd at ITEX regarding the acquisition of DEX Imaging by Staples, a move he had foreshadowed only a year earlier.
- He accurately predicted the “A4 revolution,” which certainly came to the foreground in 2020.
“As our industry is now aligning much closer to where my warnings described it was heading, maybe the industry’s actors now realize what they were once annoyed by were actually directions to help them,” Stasieczko noted.
If not everyone believes the prognostications Stasieczko is offering, there’s no denying that people are listening. He’s penned more than 100 articles for industry publications and has spoken at numerous BTA and manufacturer/industry events. In 2018, he founded TEASRA, The Innovation Channel consultative agency. His “End of the Day with Ray” video series appears daily on YouTube and LinkedIn, where he has 20,000 followers.
Stasieczko credits a number of people with influencing his path along the way, particularly in his formative years while delivering newspapers and mowing lawns to his time as an MP in the army—on through his professional journey. “I have always been conscious of the reality in all careers; people move in and out of one’s path,” he said. “I always try to contribute to those who walk on any path with me and am so grateful to all those who decide to walk with me.”
Revolutionary Ideas
It is not so much that Stasieczko has sought validation of his predictions. Rather than being seen as a foreboder of disruption, he aims to illustrate a path forward. One such example is the aforementioned “A4 revolution,” which he laid out during the Lexmark Boston Roadshow in 2018. The pandemic, he points out, hurdled the A4 movement by at least five years.
“Any time my imagination comes to life, it reminds me to keep imagining and fuels my passion,” Stasieczko said.
As 2020 rolls to a conclusion, Stasieczko longs for the opportunity to resume live speaking engagements. He’s grateful for the audience and supporters of his work, and his moving-forward goals include adding more corporate supporters “whose goals align with mine to help the channel innovate and transition.” The continuing evolution of his “End of the Day with Ray” series will benefit from his consistency in producing relevant content for his audience.
Stasieczko and his wife, Liz, have been married for nearly 38 years. She has been a supportive business partner for many of his ventures during the past four decades. The Stasieczkos are ardent travelers and look forward to the opportunity to resume exploring abroad. They enjoy strolls through their Lafayette Square Park neighborhood in St. Louis.
