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Will and Vision
Remember Chux? The disposable diaper that took the market by storm in 1932? Of course you don't. Chux saw its product as a luxury item, and happily kept its little throwaway business to itself for almost forty years. Then Pampers came along in the 1960s, supported by a huge, mass-consumer vision with persistence to match, and blew Chux out of the market-transforming baby rearing forever. And everyone knows the legend of the two Steves-Jobs and Wozniak-who invented the personal computer in someone's garage. Only they didn't. The Altair MITS came to market long before in 1975. It's just that Steve Jobs had the mammoth vision of a computer on every desk; and Apple II became the first PC hit. I just finished reading a brilliant book titled Will and Vision-How Latecomers Grow to Dominate Markets, by Grard J. Tellis and Peter N. Golder. This book takes the concept of vision and makes it concrete, demonstrating sixty-six cases where a huge vision of value for a market combined with persistence and indomitable will, made the ingredients for blockbuster success. Along the way the authors bury the concept of first mover advantage. They offer numerous examples of companies that arrived second, third or later, and went on to dominate their markets. So what does Will and Vision say are the key elements of success? The authors-academics grounded in research-not than starry-eyed growth consultants like yours truly-carefully reviewed the historical record: vision was the number one element. That's right. Big fat vision backed by persistence, will, and relentless innovation. Today's world offers many choices. People who lack vision are apt to drift to the next appealing project as soon as things don't go the way they planned. They lack persistence to achieve anything important. Will and Vision offers us a different kind of world. (Of course I'm biased. I've been shouting about vision and commitment for years.) We aren't talking about a "vision" that's sloganized and prettified and pasted on a plaque. We mean the kind of vision that highlights the importance and value of a product or service to many people and ultimately points the way to a new future. And, of course, requires a 100% commitment to bring into reality. More mass-value vision examples, from high tech and low: Dell computers, not IBM or IMSAI; Sony video recorders, not Ampex-who gave up a ten year lead; Microsoft Internet Explorer-not Netscape, or its predecessor, Links; McDonalds' Ray Kroc-not the McDonald Brothers; Gillette-not Wilkenson Sword. Mass market + high utility = big vision. Seeing what no one else can see. Having a new world view. Leaders in each of these companies owned a view that extended further than any of their predecessors. And that expansive vision enabled these people to gain access and leverage the resources (Key #4), maintain the persistence to bring the vision into reality (Key #2), and sustain relentless creativity and innovations (Key #3), over a period of years. Here are a few points about a successful vision taken from the research:
The new vision may be of a thing for which there no market-yet. (This last bit is illuminating for any of us stuck in market research.) And some important points regarding will:
Some additional tips for long-term success:
So how big is YOUR vision? Is your vision big enough to drive the kind of success you seek? Is your vision large enough to sustain you? Is it important enough to mobilize the resources necessary for its realization? Is it sufficiently inspiring to partners and employees and customers and investors-and all the other people you need to be successful? If you don't think it's big enough, it may be time to get your vision checked. --- © Copyright 2004 Quantum Growth Coaching. All Rights Reserved Special Requirements for Reprint: we ask only that you include Paul's name and resource box, and keep all hyperlinks as live links. Paul Lemberg's clients call him "the unreasonable business coach" because he insists they pursue goals and take actions far outside their comfort zone to make more money than they previously thought possible. To get business coaching, tips, tools and strategies like these, visit http://www.paullemberg.com/execoach.html.
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