Innovating to Parity

One reason meaningful transformation can be so hard is that up to a certain point, change isn’t transformation—it’s merely keeping up. What used to distinguish a brand’s performance a few years ago is now often a requirement or has already become completely uninteresting or largely irrelevant.

When I first began working in e-commerce in the late 1990s, standard product delivery times were about a week. If you wanted expedited delivery, we charged a hefty fee and often made a nice profit. Over time, free delivery (and often product returns) became a basic customer expectation. Moreover, today many products can be delivered the same day or sometimes in less than an hour.

Being able to see a nearby store’s inventory, use your smartphone to check into a hotel, find detailed product information in a matter of seconds, or get text reminders about your upcoming doctor’s appointment were once novel features. Now they are increasingly expected.

And on and on.

Customers’ expectations continue to be ratcheted up. The bar for essential competitive performance continues to be raised. What was once a source of differentiation has become a starting point. But don’t confuse the absolute necessity to execute well against basic customer requirements with actual innovation. Merely closing competitive gaps is not sufficient to keep pace with the speed of disruption.

As the pace of change accelerates, our list of necessary actions is likely to be rather long. They may take quite a lot of time and consume substantial resources to bring to life. But we must be careful not to confuse table stakes with differentiators.

When our best is merely average, we risk falling farther and farther behind.

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This post is excerpted from my new book Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption , available now in hardcover wherever books are sold, as well as?from Audible , and at a special low price?on Kindle .