Become the Business Excellence Category

Lead the category or be the category?

Striving to lead your industry isn’t entirely bad if you’re ok with waiting for someone else to beat you to the next breakthrough.

Why does that sound ridiculous?

Why is it important?

Because some ridiculously important (some would say game-changing) events have happened, are happening now, and will continue to happen.

It’s called disruption for a reason.

Waiting for it to happen can destroy an organization (and sometimes an industry).

Making it happen can launch competitive immunity and have your competition scrambling to recover.

Remember how the music industry let Napster reinvent music file sharing?

Music executives got blind-sided.

As if that wasn’t enough, the music industry never saw a computer company coming either.

Apple, iPod, iTunes, and now, Apple Music.

Apple is a category of one.

The music industry had their chance to become the category.

Kodak had their chance too, but they held so tightly to film, they suffocated themselves.

How does this train of thought affect Disney?

Easy, we have learned to be intentional with harnessing the positive ripple effects created by synergy, cause and effect, and culture.

We over-focus on the same things others under-focus on or ignore. We see the power in being intentional versus being unintentional.

Focus and discipline are our masters.

One good turn deserves another.

Leaders impact employees who impact customers who impact business results and creativity is the DNA of the entire business chain of excellence.