Читать книгу Driving Eureka! - Doug Hall - Страница 32

In the past, there was little urgency to change what we offer or how we work. It was possible to create a for-profit or nonprofit company based on an innovative service or product and to market it to the same customers for years.

Over the careers of most senior leaders, the life cycle of profitability for new products and services has been long. It has not been uncommon for a company founder to innovate and for the life cycle of their offerings to last for two generations. Children of innovators, if they managed the family business right, could have great careers. By the third generation, the marketplace usually changes such that it needs to be reinvented if the organization is to survive. Sadly, most don’t—and only 3% of family businesses make it to the fourth generation.

In the past, it has been possible to succeed even with an inferior product or service in your region. This was because customers didn’t know that there were other alternatives available in their towns or countries (or the world) that offered greater value for the money.

The internet has changed everything. Today, customers have the ability to know more about what alternatives exist in the world. It gives them the ability to painlessly compare value for the money. It also gives them the ability to share their experiences with other buyers, making it hard for companies to make false promises. For example, when you put a new “design skin” on the same old product, customers quickly figure out that your “improvement” is just skin deep.

Today, a business doesn’t last for a generation. In many industries, product or service life cycles are now months or years.