Cybertruck should be a wake up call to the herd mentality.

Last week a small automotive manufacturer from California announced their new vehicle by smashing it’s supposedly bulletproof window. A lot has been written about it but here’s one more for you as the discussion sparked by the Tesla Cybertruck is relevant to basically anyone trying to do new things in a big company. Half of the reactions seemed to say ‘crikey, that’s cool!’, while the other half seemed to say ‘Elon’s been smoking too much again’. 

Forget the fact that there could be an issue with crumple zones, or if its Blade Runner inspired design is structurally feasible or there’s no wing mirrors (evolving regulations suggest they may not be a requirement in the years to come). This thing looks like nothing in its class … and that’s kinda my point. 

For years the auto industry has followed itself around the world, been bailed out collectively, manufacturers have merged and we’re left with an industry that can’t see the wood for the trees. 

“Remember when we were kids? Each car looked so different, so unique unto itself. This is just oatmeal.” — Jerry Seinfeld

Meanwhile, Tesla have rocked up, made a decent car in the Model S, sold quite a few of them, and continue to figure out this whole electric car thing as they go, both the technology and making them at scale. On top of that, it’s not even a cool brand anymore, go look in any parking lot underneath a big professional services firm or bank and you’ll see them in their dozens. If you’re a middle aged white male that wears a suit for a living, you’re likely behind the wheel of a Tesla. 

So what do they do, they make a cyberpunk truck. Ok, they make a concept version of it, add the option to buy it on their website and start collecting deposits. I’m assuming they’ll pull it off by 2021-ish but that’s audacious! 

Follow a different path, and take your time to figure it out. 

I think there are two lessons here. In a world where industry leaders follow themselves around the world going to the same conferences, reading the same white papers and basically all following the same roadmaps, it might be time to think what might a black sheep in their industry do. 

What are the tensions in the industry, what is happening on the fringe, how might a ten year old think about it differently, what if you did it based on what makes sense five years into the future rather than in five months? Leaders across the company should challenge the thinking. Don’t play it safe, find the awesome idea that is at the heart of a cultural truth rather than something that feels too close to home. 

Now Elon hasn’t got it all figured out, but he has bought time to do it. The market is excited, investors maybe a little more skittish, and if he can deliver the first vehicles by 2021, then that’s a big win. Not everything needs to be a press release crammed with jargon few of us really understand, it can be a clear idea, coming to market at some point in future over which time you’ll figure out how to do it. 

To make it real for you with a company that isn’t the darling of Fast Company, this is a good example from Sobeys. In 2018, they announced a deal with Ocado to bring online grocery ordering, automatic fulfilment and home delivery to Canada. Let’s gloss over that once again Canada is a decade behind the UK, but Sobeys didn’t copy Loblaws who took the easy and quick route to market with Instacart, but they went with the bigger idea, announced it, bought themselves time to prepare for it and next year Canadians will be a step closer to living in the modern world … and I will start shopping with Sobeys instead of Loblaws. 

tl;dr?

Don’t be part of the industry pack, think differently, do the audacious thing and buy yourself the time to make it happen. What could be the CYBRTRCK of your industry?