I was struck by the recent furore on the internet, and subsequent mainstream media by the Antennaegate incident as the Economist magazine referred to it, regarding Apple’s new IPhone.
Apple is the doyen of the modern media, press and stock market, and have to have a high profile “failure” albeit a small one, was such a departure from their normally unblemished reputation.
I’m not signaling that there is anything major wrong here. I am a huge Apple fan and will be investing in my upgraded IPhone, and am busily tapping out my blog on my Mac.
It is interesting though, and could possibly hint at an all too common problem that besets successful companies. Success leads to a mindset that invariably makes it hard to challenge the status quo. How do you challenge the success a company such as Apple have had? How do prevent a mindset creeping in whereby the commonly held belief is that we have the right strategy, management, mission and visions and they don’t need to be fixed. How do you tell a divisional manager to reinvent themselves when they are growing exponentially every year?
I suggest you talk to Toyota managers now and ask whether they could have done with a healthy dose of critical questioning over the last decade as they seemingly became unstoppable.
Hardly a week goes by now that you don’t read about another recall of a popular Toyota model. Until 18 months ago the stories were invariably related to how Toyota were simply dominating their competition. It is an incredible story and also a timely reminder that there is no perfect business model or business.
A key part of my Focal Point business coaching programme is that of strategic planning for future success(Download a guide to Strategic Planning at . It’s hard make no mistake about it. It is hard to focus on a future vision, to challenge any assumptions, to create a new blueprint for a business. It means suspending current wisdom often, and trying to take a completely fresh approach to your thinking. To change your thinking. To create a new culture that embraces change, embraces conflict (positive conflict based on challenging existing assumptions) and eliminates complacency. The complacency that success can bring.
There is also an inevitability about the a lot of the management books re read each decade. That is that a lot of the companies featured within, that are being used as the benchmarks for others won’t be around the next decade.
The history of business is littered with examples like these. We have had our own versions here in Ireland. Quinn Group being the highest profile example.
Businesses are not unlike successful football teams. The drive and motivation to get to the top is much easier to tap into, than that when you are on top and need to push on. Not unlike a good team you need new players, new blood and new ideas.
You need to adapt a mindset, a culture that is increasingly not “Kaizan” that of continuous improvement invented by Toyota.
This philosophy is predicated on building on the past, but what if the past is no longer relevant? Sometimes you need to take a giant leap in to the unknown and the existing culture, knowledge base may not be capable of that leap.
Success is to be enjoyed. It is to be celebrated. It is to be honoured, but it is also to be questioned constantly. The reasons for current success are not the reasons success will be achieved in the future. Building on the past literally can mean that your current success can often lead to future failure.
Action steps,
Are you constantly reviewing your strategic direction? Are you constantly questioning your success. Are you regularly meeting your team and looking at fresh approaches to achieving future success for the business. Are you creating a culture that challenges complacency?
Contact me on www.ronankilroy.ie and arrange a FREE 90 minute coaching session.
