{"id":1344,"date":"2011-06-29T21:12:07","date_gmt":"2011-06-30T01:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/retailprophet.com\/blog\/?p=1344"},"modified":"2011-06-29T21:12:07","modified_gmt":"2011-06-30T01:12:07","slug":"avoiding-your-napster-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.retailprophet.com\/2011\/06\/29\/avoiding-your-napster-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Avoiding Your Napster Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a previous post<\/a><\/strong> I talked about how companies are often blind-sided by what I call Napster moments<\/em>.\u00a0 Napster moments are radical, game-changing innovations that can throw businesses and even entire industries, into oblivion.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I also promised a list of things, that from my experience and research, companies should do to reduce the odds of falling victim to these Napster moments.\u00a0 Observe most highly successful contemporary companies and chances are you\u2019ll spot some, if not all, of these\u00a0behaviors.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Here they are, in no particular order:<\/p>\n

1. Think radically<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Successful companies unlock opportunities by questioning their industries’ most sacred paradigms and throwing conventional wisdom out the window. Apple stores for example, were engineered on the premise that store employees would not try to sell<\/em> anything. \u00a0Rather, their goal was simply to help<\/em> customers solve problems and relieve their computing pain.\u00a0 The outcome of this non-selling approach was enormous trust on the part of customers who, in the process, felt more comfortable spending their money (and lots of it) with Apple.\u00a0 In other words, while other retailers were pushing discounts, staff incentives and tired old selling-skills training, Apple was breaking the first cardinal rule of retail and encouraging their staff not<\/em> to sell. \u00a0\u00a0Apple\u2019s radical approach to retail resulted in some of the highest sales per square foot statistics in retail history.<\/p>\n

2. Innovate in a non-linear way<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What made Napster so disruptive to the music industry was its non-linear<\/em> nature.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t simply an incremental and predictable improvement on the industry’s sales and distribution model. \u00a0\u00a0It was a complete rethinking of the way music was packaged, sold and consumed.\u00a0 Napster didn\u2019t merely improve on current technology – it eradicated it completely. \u00a0Non–<\/strong>linear innovation often combines seemingly unrelated things to bring entirely new product and service alternatives to market.\u00a0 They are more difficult to develop but can create enormous competitive distance if successful.\u00a0 Vibram<\/a>,<\/strong> for example, took a non-linear approach to innovation with their \u201cfive fingers\u201d shoe design.\u00a0 While other running shoe makers were focusing on incremental improvements in cushioning, support and design, Vibram conceived a shoe that instead fits like a glove, allowing for a unique barefoot running experience.This is not to imply that incremental improvement has no place in your plans.\u00a0 What I am suggesting is that if you focus solely on linear product modifications and extensions, you will not last long.<\/p>\n

3. Get your head out of your association<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/strong>Most industry associations have a mandate to make their members stronger and smarter but often fall short because they\u2019re inherently risk averse.\u00a0 Ideally, they should be trolling the dark waters for the horrible, disruptive things their members might not like, but really need to\u00a0confront.\u00a0\u00a0However, in many cases they tend not to, for fear of upsetting their membership and losing revenue.\u00a0 So, while they should be champions of breaking down<\/em> the status quo, they often do just the opposite, because it\u2019s the status quo that pays the dues. It\u2019s vital that companies not<\/em> rely on their industry associations as their sole source of perspective and insight.\u00a0 Instead, create out-of-industry alliances to exchange ideas and attend unique non-industry conferences.\u00a0 Do whatever is necessary to find out what\u2019s happening beyond the walls of your own industry.<\/p>\n

4. Stop listening to your customers<\/h3>\n

<\/strong>If you build only what your customers ask for, your products and services are certain to be mediocre and cheap.\u00a0 As Henry Ford said, \u201cIf I\u2019d asked my customers what they wanted, they\u2019d have said \u201ca faster horse\u201d.\u201d\u00a0 Don\u2019t focus effort on building what your customers say they want \u2013they don\u2019t have a clue.\u00a0 Build what they need but don\u2019t know yet that they need it<\/em>.\u00a0 This means confronting the real issues with your product, service or industry and then hiring really smart people to create brilliant and often unconventional solutions.\u00a0 If you must, hold focus groups to see what consumers think of your new products \u2013 not to find out what they think your new products should be. <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>5. Aggressively pursue your own obsolescence<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/strong>I know it sounds like suicide but bear with me for a minute. \u00a0All business models have a lifespan yet very few businesses actually plan<\/em> for their demise \u2013 for the day when what they sell or do is no longer necessary.\u00a0 Fewer still actually attempt to disrupt their own model.\u00a0 But here\u2019s the thing\u2026 If you<\/em> control the obsolescence of your own product or service model, you are by definition the one best positioned to own the new<\/em> model \u2013 at least for a while.\u00a0\u00a0 Blockbuster Video, for example, had a chance to eradicate the brick and mortar video distribution model on which the rental industry stood and in doing so, control the subscription model.\u00a0 But even after being approached by Netflix to explore a potential partnership in 2000, Blockbuster chose instead to defend its dying model of distribution.\u00a0 Like Blockbuster, the rest is history.<\/p>\n

To avoid Napster moments, become Napster <\/strong><\/h3>\n

In essence, what it comes down to is that the only sure way to avoid Napster moments is to be the player in your industry causing them to happen.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t define the terms of change in your industry, someone else will.\u00a0 History shows that the choice is pretty simple\u00a0 \u2013 disrupt or be disrupted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a previous post I talked about how companies are often blind-sided by what I call Napster moments.\u00a0 Napster moments are radical, game-changing innovations that can [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1],"tags":[92,152,42,153,45,58,23],"class_list":["post-1344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","category-uncategorized","tag-apple","tag-change","tag-future","tag-organizational-behavior","tag-strategy-3","tag-technology","tag-trends"],"yoast_head":"\nAvoiding Your Napster Moment | Retail Prophet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.retailprophet.com\/2011\/06\/29\/avoiding-your-napster-moment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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