How To Succeed: 1 Critical Lesson From Those Who Failed

Why is it that some companies and people keep growing, changing, improving - go from success to success - while others become successful and then blow up or slide into oblivion?  I've always been fascinated by this phenomenon.

Just read a really interesting article at Fortune/CNN (headline grabbed by Frederick Allen here on Forbes) about this topic.  The author, Anne Fisher, talks about a new book, Unrelenting Innovation, by Gerard Trellis, that purports to answer just this question.  I can't really comment on the book itself, since I haven't yet read it, but I love the author's use of Kodak as an example of a company that killed itself.

He notes how Kodak scientists developed most of the fundmental technology in today's smartphones and digital cameras, and then sat on it because they didn't want to cannibalize their film business (at one point they had a 90% share of the US film market).  This impulse seems to have infected every aspect of the company.  A quote from the book:  "[The] culture of stagnation [at Kodak in its heyday] fueled the growth of a nightmarish bureaucracy so entrenched it could have passed for a government agency…. There was an emphasis on doing everything by the company rulebooks…. Meetings were held prior to meetings to discuss issues and avoid confrontations, which were considered un-Kodaklike." The result?  Kodak lost almost 90% of its market value in just over a decade, and declared bankruptcy last year.

As soon as I read this example, I realized that he is describing something that's true in every success-preceding-failure circumstance I've ever observed:

When an entity shifts focus from how to change and grow to how to avoid loss, at that moment it begins to die.

The business landscape is littered with the bones of companies in every industry that have made this fatal mistake: Blockbuster, Lehman Brothers, Worldcom, Linens n' Things, The Monitor Group, Frontier Airlines...the list goes on and on.

I believe the same is true of individuals. When you're focused on how to grow and improve, your mindset is one of curiosity.  You're willing to try new things, look like a fool, take in feedback.  Others experience you as being open and transparent; they want to help and support you, they like being part of your team.  And you're able to respond appropriately to changing circumstances, recognize the importance of new information. You evolve.

When you focus on avoiding loss, you shut down - mentally, emotionally, even spiritually.  Your energy goes into defending your actions and maintaining the status quo.  Others experience you as being rigid, difficult, defensive; they want to limit their interactions with you or avoid you all together. It's almost impossible for you to respond appropriately to new circumstances: most of your attention is taken up with the impulse toward self-protection. You stop evolving.

So, if you want to be successful throughout your life, cultivate the mind and heart of a learner. One simple way to do that: every day, ask 'four-year-old' questions, like, How does that work? Why shouldn't we/I do that? What does that mean? What would happen if I/we did this?

Happy evolution....

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Check out Erika Andersen’s latest book, Leading So People Will Follow, and discover how to be a followable leader. Booklist called it “a book to read more than once and to consult many times.”

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