What got you here, won't get you there!

Few days ago, as a part of SEAP Gurukul programme, I had a chance to participate an interested discussion about 'What got you here, won't get you there?'. It was an interesting conversation with an engaged audience and very well facilitated.

As the world around us moves forward, it is important for individuals and companies to continuously find ways to stay relevant and keep themselves ahead in the pursuit of customer success.

While there are many factors that define success and failure of companies, one of the most common factor that drives successful companies is their ability to understand that what got them there, is not what will get them to future.

Why companies need to reinvent themselves?

No one is too big to fail or be irrelevant

Jet Airways, once considered the best airline in India does not exist today!  

Only 30% of the companies listed in Fortune 500 in 1988 are still there in the list.

Past success does not necessarily define future success

Nokia, Blackberry were highly successful companies of their time but their past could not define future for them and soon were rendered irrelevant by Apple and Google (android)

The above examples tell us that any organization, irrespective of size or their past success can be disrupted and be made irrelevant by competition.

What should companies do to reinvent themselves?

Going back to fundamentals and question deeply embedded assumptions help companies find innovative & breakthrough solutions

Elon Musk & Tesla were able to significantly lower the battery cost from $600 per kilowatt hour to approx. $80 per kilowatt hour

Steve Jobs reinvented the media entertainment device (iPod) and reimagined phone (iPhone) by going back to basics and working ground up

One should have a long-term vision and build and implement iteratively to achieve success

Android, started under the shadow of iOS is world’s most popular mobile OS, while Microsoft, with Windows mobile failed due to lack of long-term vision

Its important to be relentless and obsessed in the pursuit of customer success and deliver them value

Amazon is known for their customer obsession and delivering value to customers and is one of the most successful companies in the world.

 Learn, Unlearn and Relearn – Be a self-disruptor

Microsoft was a dominant desktop OS & office software player. It was disrupted by cloud first Google and had to reinvent themselves and find a new identity. Under successful leadership of Satya Nadella, Microsoft is once again one of the most valued public companies and a dominant technology player

Above examples are of those organizations who have successfully understood the need to reinvent their business and let innovation drive their future.

To continue being successful, one needs to think differently, apply innovative thinking and continue reinventing themselves so that when time comes. they are still there and are not replaced by someone else!

Very similar to solving Rubik's cubes above. All of them part of the same game, but need different thinking to solve each one.

What are your learnings?

#innovation #reinventing #disruption