We’ve claimed vision is a critical element for sustained viability. One of the more interesting cases we can learn from is playing out right in front of us: Facebook. Consider how it started – a nerd with an idea for using social media to get dates in college. His vision? Well, we won’t speculate on that. But the product was good, and soon it spread like wildfire. At some point, it caught the attention of another audience – people outside of college who wanted to share pictures with one another. Facebook revised its vision – it now became the platform for building communities around the globe. Meanwhile, virtual reality was starting to become “a thing.” So now Meta is taking their earlier vision to a new platform for user experience, with greater opportunities for personal interaction and community-building.
IBM
Facebook avoided being trapped by its originating visions through paying close attention to changes in their ecosystem. IBM didn’t get trapped either, thanks to Lou Gerstner. He astutely judged IBM was at risk in holding onto its ‘big iron’ vision amid an ecosystem that was aggressively tipping the industry into decentralization. So, he pushed IBM into the future with a new vision as a service provider, continuing to sell big iron but more and more little iron too, along with connecting and servicing all the components. It was a brilliantly transformative vision that restored IBM profitability in just over a decade, while setting the company up for the future.
The Vision Trap
But now let’s examine what can happen when vision is ignored or remains stagnant. Tower Records, for example. Established in 1960, it grew quickly, establishing stores throughout the US and in 17 other countries. Their vision saw them as a destination for everyone from casual listeners of pop music to serious audiophiles and musicians themselves. However, they filed for bankruptcy in 2004, again in 2006, and again in 2008 – ostensibly due to heavy debt incurred during their aggressive expansion in the 1990s, mismanagement, managerial incompetence, and growing competition from mass discounters. We suspect that underlying their demise was a failure to recognize the need to pivot their vision, as Facebook and IBM did. Digitized, downloadable music meant stores were not what they used to be; any music you could buy at Tower, you could buy and download immediately online. And then along came Napster. Game over. Tivo suffered a similar fate. Initially innovative compared to the competition, its vision as a hardware company didn’t stand a chance against streaming technology. Tivo lost out to Netflix, who also took out Blockbuster (remember them? – not quite the same vibe as a Tower Records store!). Tivo is currently attempting to reinvent itself again. Recognizing their innovations are much better suited to cable and over-the-air content than streamed content, they are trying to transition to streaming-oriented products. They’ll have to compete with lots of new players (e.g., Apple, Roku, Google, Amazon…) using a tech base that is not their established strength. It will be interesting to see what they come up with and whether they can continue to adapt as necessary.
Conclusion
Vision is the cornerstone of your Strategic Framework. It shapes the wayProducts, Operations, and KPIs come alive inside the company. But change happens. Those who are not equipped to adapt fail. Keeping your vision alive and relevant by paying close attention to your ecosystem is your most important responsibility as a leader.
Our Cultural Alignment survey starts by asking you to rate the power of your current vision on a 1-10 scale as follows:
“Our company vision reflects who we are, what we want to be known for, and inspires and drives everything we do”
Click here to take the survey and receive a complimentary readout on your Culture State.
As always, we welcome your comments and questions.
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