We could all have our Kodak moment. How can you avoid yours?
We could all have our Kodak moment. How can you avoid yours?
Ignoring change will not make it go away!!
Eastman Kodak, one of the world’s most successful companies, has now joined the ranks of the behemoth companies that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Who would have ever thought….Kodak?? We see company after company finding out that it is a brave new world. Either you adapt or die. NO, SIZE DOES NOT MATTER!!! The ERs are filled with companies (some American icons) that are on life support with doubts of survival. 
Kodak first pioneered digital technologies in the 70’s & 80’s but until recently the challenge to change has not been great enough for them to aggressively react. Why? Because like Borders and Blockbuster, they refused to believe that a low-margin technology driven by companies a small fraction of their size could literally kill their business.
One by one we see large corporations folding for the following reasons:
1) Complacency ….. It’s easy to feel complacent when you have a brand so established that people refer to those most cherished experiences as a “Kodak moment
2) Entitlement….. Because most people associate all film with Kodak, as they do copiers with Xerox,it’s easy to feel entitled when you own that type of market share
3) Arrogance…. “How can low-margin technologies and smaller companies impact the mother of all film…Hell, we pioneered digital so we control the market.” Yeah, right!!!
I see similar themes of complacency, sense of entitlement and arrogance playing out in the lives of Americans who do not have the corporate deep pockets to survive. Many Americans, even those who are well educated, do not want to admit (although there are many tell-tell signs) that the world has changed. The streets are plastered with people who have MBAs sitting on the sidelines for years waiting for their turn to get in the game. When I talk to people with MBAs and law degrees from pedigree schools and I hear some of them saying “I’m scared,” then it only continues to validate my beliefs.
In the future, the spoils will go to the Americans who understand that all great parties must come to an end, just like Kodak. The new operative word is agile, and resting on laurels will no longer be tolerated.
Companies like Kodak should always ask themselves….
What are we doing to retool for the future?
What are we doing to be in control of our destiny?
What are we doing to establish a Plan B so that we are not blindsided?
What are some of the questions we as Americans should be asking ourselves?
Ignoring change will not make it go away!!
