INNOVATE OR DIE...

is misleading and too simplistic.

I came across a post today that looked at Netflix and Blockbuster. It then waxed eloquence on the mantra of “innovate or die.”

That’s not helpful.

Playing Monday morning quarterback is easy – especially after you know the score of the game.

Hindsight is NOT 20/20. It’s a reinterpretation of the past where you wished you had emphasized certain facts over others.

Hindsight Bias is dangerous.

The Famous Danish Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”

You cannot predict the future but you can be smarter about understanding the shifts and understanding your business within those shifts.

1. Know the problem you solve (not the product/service you sell)
2. Know the value of solving that problem (what is it worth to who?)
3. Improve the core first – do it faster, better, with less resources.
4. Take the profit and time from the improvement and invest in innovation around your client. Always look for Atomic Adjacencies – same service new market or clients who love you with a new service or product.
5. Repeat above.

It is the changing value of the problem you solve you have to watch. It all starts there.

Innovate or die is too simplistic to be of much help.