« Loving what you do | Main | It's like blackjack, not roulette »
"The paradigm of competition is a race: by rewarding the winner, we encourage everyone to run faster. When capitalism really works this way, it does a good job; but its defenders are wrong in assuming it always works this way." - Richard Stallman
A paradigm is nothing more than a set of assumptions, values, and practices that constitute a way of viewing reality. For example, if you view business as a competitive endeavor, then you place yourself, metaphorically, on the same track as the "other guy." You think about beating the other guy. You value beating the other guy. You put practices in place to beat the other guy. Unfortunately, customers could care less about you and the other guy. Customers care about themselves.
Today's paradigm shifting is about new, out-of-the-box consumer experiences. Old paradigm: Radio. New paradigm: iPod + iTunes. Old: smelly circuses. New: Cirque du Soleil. Old: limited selection, video rental store. New: Netflix. Old: intimidating video games. New: Wii. Old: crowded mega book store. New: Amazon.com. Old: classified ads in the newspaper New: Craigslist Old: daily fee car rental, plus gas and insurance, plus long lines. New: Zipcar.
If you study marketplace evolution, it becomes readily apparent that incumbents typically fail to reinvent their industries. Disney let Pixar do it. United watched as Southwest Airlines ate their lunch. Kodak oblivious to Canon. Why? Because market leaders have an existing paradigm that says business is about competition. And so, they focus on incremental changes in their served markets to stay a step ahead of the competition. They don't innovate for customers. They tweak their offering to beat the other guy.
Mark Twain once wrote:
“The best swordsman in the world doesn't need to fear the second best swordsman in the world; no, the person for him to be afraid of is some ignorant antagonist who has never had a sword in his hand before; he doesn’t do the thing he ought to do, and so the expert isn't prepared for him; he does the thing he ought not to do and often it catches the expert out and ends him on the spot.”
Do you consider yourself an expert? Or are you an antagonist for the benefit of your audience? Think about it.
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c684b53ef0120a5458493970b
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Choose the correct paradigm to shift:
The comments to this entry are closed.
(Rest assured, we will never provide your email address to anyone. Period.)
RSS feed
Tom on Twitter
@tomasacker
Tom is timely, thought provoking and all about the new brand vision packaged as a Seinfeld stand up. I went to school on his ideas.
Jeff Taylor, Founder, Monster.com and CEO, Eons.
The antogonist, mos def.
Posted by: David Burn | September 09, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Hey, Tom. Thanks for the insightful post.
In my own perspective, I think that surviving in the business rat race doesn't only involve an impeccable business plan, a line of premium brands and a satisfactory knowledge of basic accounting.
If you don't know how to innovate and make your brand as prominent as possible then it's better not to start at all.
Posted by: Strategic Growth Advisors | September 09, 2009 at 09:45 PM
Brilliant, as always, Tom
You should be required reading every day for anyone in Radio, especially owners and the guys in the big corner offices.
BTW, the Mark Twain quote reminded me of the Indiana Jones scene we all remember so well.
Posted by: Doug Erickson | September 10, 2009 at 01:15 PM
Thank you folks. I really appreciate it; especially since it's coming from fellow antagonists.
Posted by: Tom Asacker | September 10, 2009 at 01:20 PM
Ohh! Great Post.
With Warm Regards
Posted by: Debashish Brahma | September 13, 2009 at 07:01 AM