I
recently read a blog article by Bernadette Jiwa titled, “The Secret of Disruptive
Innovations.” Her examples and conclusions will make you “think twice” about
what you thought you knew about the effect of disruptive innovations on
yourself and your business.
“When
the online eyewear retailer Warby Parker began selling boutique-quality glasses
at a $95 price point, they weren’t just trying to undercut the bigger players
in the industry. Of course, they did that and more, growing the company by 500
percent in just a year and mostly by word of mouth.
“The
average customer who needs glasses buys a pair every 2.1 years. Warby Parker
set out to make glasses something that customers would buy in multiples as
fashion statements; much like women buy shoes and bags. They wanted customers
to view them as accessories they could change to match occasions or moods. And
while price combined with
quality
enables the company to tell a different story than other retailers, what
changes everything is the story the customer now tells himself about how many
pairs of glasses he can own and how often he should buy new ones. Many of Warby
Parker’s customers buy six or seven pairs of glasses at a time and not just
when their prescription expires.
“AirBnB
made people long to experience a destination like a local hotel without the $8
price tag for nuts from the mini-bar. Apple changed how we feel about buying a
whole album, including the songs we didn’t care about. Amazon’s Kindle made us
think of airport bookstores as reference libraries where we browse but don’t
buy.
“The
secret of disruptive innovations and business models isn’t that they disrupt an
industry. It’s that they disrupt people. They change how people feel about
something enough to change how they behave.
It’s
entirely possible to look into the future and think about how your customer
might be changed tomorrow as a result of what you do today. While ‘the
industry’ works on the assumption that the larvae of today will just be bigger
caterpillars tomorrow, the disruptor imagines butterflies.”
One
day an entrepreneur took his young sales manager Bill up to a magnificent
estate overlooking a beautiful river. He then took him up on the highest peak
on the property, put his arm around him, pointed down, and said: “Look at that
stunning home and gorgeous swimming pool! How do you like those fabulous tennis
courts? Take a look at those beautiful horses in the stable. Now, all I want
you to do is continue to meet the high standards and goals I’ve set for you and
someday, Bill…someday, all this will be mine.”
The
following blog title recently caught my attention: “Why You Shouldn’t Strive
for Perfection.” Reading that statement
made my blood pressure rise.
A
little further reading made it go up even more, as I read about a writing
professor who presented his class with this assignment: 1. Write something that
is just ‘so-so.’ 2. Do some research or get some feedback from a mentor or
teacher. 3. Try again to make it better.” I wondered to myself, “Why would
anyone strive to do something just “so-so” instead of always doing the best
that they could do?”
The
author’s three-part explanation for not striving for perfection all the time
read as follows: “1. When you work toward making something just ‘so-so,’ it
takes all the anxiety and fear out of the experience. 2. Once you’re not
worried about failing, you can concentrate on your task. 3. As you work toward
step #3, ‘make it better,’ you are acknowledging that
there’s
plenty to learn.”
And
finally, there was the following three-part summary: “1. In learning a new
skill, don’t focus on perfection. 2. Make your goal to produce something ‘OK,’
then get some help, and then make improvements. 3. Rinse and repeat until you
are satisfied.”
I
suppose that the words about working to a “so-so” or “OK” result struck me the
wrong way. My comment I left on that blog follows, first, with a quote by
legendary football coach Vince Lombardi and then my personal comment.
The
Lombardi quote: “Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection,
knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are
going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch
excellence. I am not remotely interested in being just good.”
Then,
I commented, “In my long business career, I have never strived to be ‘so-so’ or
‘OK’ at doing anything. I have always strived to be the best I could be, never
expecting perfection, but always striving for it. I can’t imagine my managers
and employees doing their jobs expecting the results to be ‘so-so.’ Learning
and improving are part of any process. But the expectation should always be to
do or be the best you can.”
What
do you think? Should you strive to do an “OK” job, or should you strive to
always do your very best?
