An irresistible force that can be harnessed for profit growth is often presented by technological change. Here's an example.
Moore's Law states that semiconductor effectiveness will double every eighteen months at a more or less constant price. Computer manufacturers have used this law for decades as an irresistible force that permitted them to anticipate the technological changes needed to design their new machines.
A new opportunity in recent years has been for people who understood the law well to expand its application beyond computer hardware to upset the competitive dynamics of other industries. In the 1990s, Microsoft offered an encyclopedia product named Encarta as part of a bundled package of software to computer manufacturers, or as an add-on to consumers for less than $100. Traditional encyclopedias cost many hundreds of dollars, and almost every family felt the need to have one.
Soon, Encarta was the best selling encyclopedia in the world and wildly profitable, because its sales grew rapidly while its costs were very low. The original version of Encarta was based on a printed encyclopedia sold in retail stores so development costs were low, and creating electronic copies is almost costless.
This is an example of a breakthrough solution because Microsoft achieved more than 20 times the growth and profitability that a traditional new entrant into the encyclopedia business would have experienced. By choosing the electronic form for this product, Microsoft ensured that it would continue to have the irresistible force of Moore's law on its side as it competed with traditionally printed encyclopedias.
But irresistible forces don't always provide helpful pushes. Have you ever had your plans delayed or put on hold indefinitely by a change in your organization's operating environment?
Perhaps fashion suddenly changed, and no one wanted any longer the kinds of products or services you provide. Perhaps laws were changed to make the regulation of what you were planning to do difficult to implement. Or perhaps the raw material costs suddenly became very much less expensive for an old-fashioned version of what you make, and customers flocked to the suddenly cheaper alternative. Maybe warm weather meant that winter coats weren't needed in December.
Imagine your organization as being a jetliner traveling across the United States. Because the jet stream flows generally from west to east, this powerful and highly changeable wind, this irresistible force, will have a large impact on your journey.
The average nonstop coast-to-coast flight takes about five and a half hours. If you travel from east to west, the jet stream will add more than two hours to the time it takes to travel from west to east. The difference results from having the jet stream as either a head wind, retarding your progress, or as a tailwind, helping you forward.
Of course, if you are traveling from south to north, the jet stream will also delay your journey somewhat by pushing you off course and forcing you to fight off some of its effects as a crosswind.
Here's another example of how irresistible forces can be harnessed for your benefit. Have you ever watched a small, slim person use judo to defend against attacks from larger, more powerful people? The judo user will actually employ the strength and inertial direction of the attacker to make self-defense easier.
For instance, if the attacker throws a punch, the judo defender can grab the wrist of the attacker's extended arm as it speeds forward and pull the attacker to the ground by tripping her or him at the same time. Of course, without the judo, the results could be quite different.
This points out the need for appropriate development of your skills. Properly harnessed, irresistible forces can be used successfully in such a defensive way. However, the most exciting potential is their use in a positive way to create irresistible growth for your enterprise.
Irresistible forces can be like head winds, tailwinds, or crosswinds. This article has a very simple message: Always make irresistible forces work as tailwinds for you.
Copyright 2008 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved
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