Safeguarding your vulnerable side
The frustration of being easily overwhelmed by an unexpected competitor in a video game is a familiar experience for anyone who has played with a child. The maddening sense of helplessness grows as you vigorously press buttons, convinced that your actions should yield success. Those tactics should have been effective. Victory should have been yours. But it wasn’t.
Children possess the remarkable ability to anticipate likely outcomes in the game, free from preconceived expectations. They perceive the virtual landscape as it is, without the burden of how it should be. Business, too, shares similarities with video games, where outcomes are influenced by specific triggers. You, too, can adapt, master the rules, and emerge victorious.
The path to triumph in business begins with the understanding of the 7 Triggers that precipitate crises, starting with rule 1:
Shift in Competition
Blockbuster Video played the business game following the rules of Pong, assuming the marketplace and customer loyalty would conform to a predictable back-and-forth exchange. Pong symbolizes sustainable innovation, as long as you keep hitting the ball back and forth, it will continue until a swing is missed. However, when Netflix entered the video market, it detonated the established consumer habit of owning and renting physical discs, and the repercussions reverberated beyond the confines of retail stores.
Netflix’s groundbreaking streaming media model has revolutionized every facet of the home video industry, encompassing retail, distribution, production, marketing, studio release windows, and even the creation of supplementary content. These were all micro-industries previously centered around the sale of a 12-centimeter plastic disc.
Shift in Technology
On the contrary, Netflix approached the business game with the mindset of Call of Duty, where speed, demolishing obstacles, and persisting through failures are the keys to success. History and experience have shown us that technology reshapes culture. The Call of Duty series epitomizes disruptive innovation, where opponents adapt, threats can emerge unexpectedly, and numerous failures precede ultimate triumph. Call of Duty itself stands as a prominent brand within a multibillion-dollar industry, gradually moving away from its origins on physical discs toward a direct-to-download model. Does this sound familiar? Who adapted more adeptly?
Shift in Culture
The tectonic shift from home video to video at home (and on the go with mobile devices) has resulted in a cultural transformation in viewing habits. Binge-watching, second-screen viewing, and on-demand “tv anywhere” services now provide a vast library accessible from anywhere. However, the ramifications of this transformation extend beyond mere entertainment. Binge-watching has increased data usage through cable lines and mobile plans, leading to higher service charges, novel marketing and advertising strategies, and even a fundamental evolution in how studios produce episodic television seasons.
Shift in the Economic Landscape
The transformation of cultural attitudes and consumption patterns can have profound implications for the economy. In 2013, the closure of the remaining Blockbuster locations mirrored the fate of brick-and-mortar stores belonging to Circuit City. The fierce competition from Netflix and Amazon proved insurmountable. Consequently, readily available low-skilled jobs were displaced, while new opportunities emerged in commercial real estate for other expanding businesses.
Transformation in Customer Experience
Few triggers are as closely intertwined as the economy and the lives of your customers. Escalating living costs exert downward pressure on consumer spending across the board. This reveals how industry leaders and influencers become the arbiters of culture and lifestyle. When we casually bestow the “visionary” label upon companies like Apple, Netflix, Tesla, Starbucks, or Amazon, we not only acknowledge their prescient understanding of people’s desires before they even realize them, but also their ability to anticipate and navigate each of the 7 Triggers that give rise to business crises, gaining leverage or avoiding failure.
Evolution of Your Business Cycle
In the following two rules, eloquently explains how these disparate forces converge, leading to a seismic shift that directly impacts not only your workforce but also the very life cycle of your business:
Witness the way these 7 Triggers combine and generate an unstoppable momentum:
Most companies operate with conscious awareness, skillfully navigating their immediate commercial surroundings and finding success within familiar boundaries. However, the visionaries who have captured the world’s admiration operate with heightened awareness. They predict, adapt, and innovate in anticipation of the 7 Triggers delineated above. Cultivating a broader awareness will grant you the edge to ride the current rather than helplessly being tossed beneath its turbulent waves.
