Business-Building Ideas from Terry Brock
Changing and adapting have always been extremely important to survive. It was Herbert Spencer (not Charles Darwin) who coined the phrase “Survival of the Fittest,” and it is more true today than ever.
Think of companies like Microsoft and Cisco. Just a few short years ago they were top of the hill. Short-sighted (largely socialist-thinking) people would be heard to cry and moan that “Microsoft is such a bully and no one will be able to displace them.” This same type of inane, historically-deficient bromides charged Cisco would “always be on top and no one can stop them.”
It is amazing (and enlightening) what just a few years difference makes.
Today, Microsoft is, yes, still a force to be reckoned with and Cisco still makes damn-good routers and other equipment. However, both are heading downward by most estimates. Their cool factor has diminished and as a result the cavalcade continues a downward spiral. In technology, those companies which are not as cool as others don’t attract the best brainpower, therefore they don’t come up with the best products, therefore the market doesn’t buy their stuff which leads to less profits which increases the “less cool” environment. The downward spiral continues.
So, how do you not only stay cool, but increase the desire for the marketplace to embrace you? What can you do to gain the status of being THE company to watch and embrace? What can you do to become the thought leader that people turn to — and hence want to be around? GigaOm recently had a great post about this (http://ow.ly/6eirm) where they laid out the case. The bottom line is pretty simple — but not easy.
We have to continually focus on what the market wants today. Coming up with a way cool program on a 5.25″ floppy disk was way cool in the early 80’s and it helped to propel Lotus Development Corporation to dominate the market with their spreadsheet they called Lotus 1-2-3. I made hundreds of thousands of dollars back then teaching that product.
But who uses that product today?
Not many.
Excel displaced it and remains the spreadsheet of choice for most today — although without the passion and “coolness” that were attributed to it before.
Today an whole new kind of cool exists. Tomorrow it will be different yet. So, what’s a struggling thought leader or business to do?
Harken back to the wisdom of Herbert Spencer (and Charles Darwin). Keep reinventing. Keep focusing. Embrace new and wonderful adventures that will attract your market. This is, and has always been, the key to success. Change is like a hurricane with its force.
An old business adage we’d often hear when something like this, “If you keep on doing what you’re always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve already got.” That might bring a few smiles and perhaps some polite applause in some circles. However that tired adage just doesn’t work today.
In an environment that is continually changing, if you keep doing what brought you success in the past — under past conditions — you are probably going to slide further and further away from the success you enjoyed before. You have to be different. You have to do things differently. Think of today’s outstanding winners like Facebook, YouTube, Google, Apple and others. They are doing something DIFFERENT from what was done before. They’re not trying to make a better 5.25″ disk with a better spreadsheet. That era is over. Done. Finished.
Keep reinventing and adapting. It is the way to survive. It is the way to thrive. Sure, it is easier to sit back and rest — but growth doesn’t come from resting on your laurels.
Stretch yourself. Try different. Become a better person and company.
Somehow I think Herbert Spencer (and Charles Darwin) would be giving you the “thumbs-up” signal as you embrace new by adapting and changing for the better.
Comments? I look forward to your thoughts and ideas. Please leave them here on the website so others can benefit from what you say. I really do look forward to hearing from you.
Catch this video I did a little while ago where I interviewed Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association about Innovation and Change. http://ow.ly/6ej3v
Terry Brock
Terry Brock works with organizations to bring about positive change. He is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame and Certified Professional Speaker. To find out how he can help your company drop an email to Terry@TerryBrock.com or visit his website at www.TerryBrock.com.
