Dare to DISRUPT – Part 2 – Why TRANSFORM?
Brendan P. Keegan
6X CEO | 21X Board Director | 2X Best Selling Author | Philanthropist | Speaker | McLaren Racing Indy Team | Co-Owner Andretti Racing, United Autosports, Merchants, Skymeadow, PURE Electric, Crane | 150,000 LI Subscriber
Transformation is a fundamental change to what you do, how you do it, and how you go to market. It is revolutionary rather than evolutionary. It is not just growing bigger while doing the same thing or simply diversifying your product or services in line with what you are currently selling. If a restaurant decides to open earlier or stay open later to increase sales, that’s a logical, evolutionary step to fill their restaurant more and drive more revenue—it may be a great success, but it’s not a transformation of their business. A drive-thru that brings in a totally different customer base—now that’s transformation.
If your industry is changing, susceptible to change, or a future change is on the horizon and you don’t transform, you will not be able to sustain your business. Blockbuster vs. Netflix is a great example.
Blockbuster was at the height of its success in 2004 with 9,000 stores globally and $5.9 billion in revenue. By 2010 they filed for bankruptcy because they stayed the course as they watched their industry be disrupted and transformed around them. While Blockbuster was busy building their brick-and-mortar movie rental empire, Netflix, in 1997, was busy transforming the industry by mailing movies to customers via their subscription service.
Then in 2007, Netflix transformed how they did business in Canada, converting their subscription service from mailing movies to streaming movies to their customers. In 2010, they opened the service to the U.S. and Reed Hastings, Netflix’s then CEO, told his investors, “Three years ago, we were a DVD by-mail company that offered some streaming. We are now a streaming company which also offers DVD by mail.”[1] That’s a transformative company who must continue to transform.
If you are an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of vehicles and you’re not investing in electrification, you will be out of business in ten years. GM’s leader, Mary Barra recognized the coming fundamental changes to automotive technology and the need to transform GM to meet those changes. In 2018, she shared her vision for zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion. In 2022, Auto Environmental Guide ranked GM number one for its decarbonization efforts.[2] By 2030, LMC Automotive estimates “GM will outshine every other EV manufacturer with 18.3 percent of the market share,” because GM has built the infrastructure for true transformation and scalability.[3]
Barra has more than a vision. She has an intentional, strategic plan to make that vision a reality.? I bet you thought I was going to highlight Tesla here, watch out for the juggernaut known as General Motors proving that you can teach an old dog new tricks and turn a battleship like a wakeboard boat!
?Why TRANSFORM?
In today’s global and rapidly evolving landscape, companies must always have an eye on the horizon to prepare themselves for the pivots that will be required in the future. Some of those pivots will require a true transformation if they are to stay in the game.?
It’s important to note that not all companies should or want to transform. In fact, most don’t.? There are companies who find their course and choose to stick with it for the life of the business. That was certainly true of Merchants Fleet prior to 2018. For fifty-five years, they built a solid business consistently growing at 2 to 3 percent a year. Most businesses choose, or are better suited for, an evolutionary path. A business that has been steadily growing 5 percent annually for several years may decide they want to increase that growth to 10, 12, maybe 15 percent. They are not looking to make any radical changes. They are looking to improve how they do business and increase their existing market share. Their course of action may be to invest 20 percent more in sales and marketing for a deeper penetration of the market and 10 percent more in product development to create enhancements within their existing offerings, making them more competitive. They have set themselves on an evolutionary trajectory.
In the grouping of companies that want to transform and who think they are ready for and capable of transformation, they often lack the vision, foundation, and fortitude to make it happen.? And that brings me to the second thing you must seek to understand before you embark on disruptive change, why transformations fail, and that will come in part 3, stay tuned!
领英推荐
Dare to DISRUPT is the LinkedIn series based on my upcoming book being published in November which outlines a playbook for disrupting your industry and transforming your company.
?Live & LEAD FEARLESSLY,
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Insightful read! Transformation indeed reshapes the very core of what we do. -Revolutionary, not just evolutionary- resonates deeply. Excited to follow this series! ????
Excellent!!
Associate Director @ Multisoft Group| HR | Process Improvement
11 个月My pick: it is good to evolve but better to revolve
Director and founder Go Sail Cargo
11 个月transformation begins with the creative processes that arise from our intuition and this faculty can ne encouraged and fine-tuned by accessing our innate and infinite consciousness. If this power is harnessed for the abundance of all and not merely for financial gain, the world will be the better for our being here. My business is the creation of a zero-emission global shipping co-operative which combines the best of traditional evolution with new technology applied with new thought processes. As a result, the right people are now joining me and thus a small vision becomes a growing reality.
Retired Navy Veteran | Senior Leadership Professional | High Performance Coach | THF Alumni |
11 个月Well said, adapting to the changing requirements and challenges is essential to surviving in the competitive landscape.