Research in Motion died on Thursday. It had been a company on life support for awhile. We all knew that this day was coming and that it would be a miracle for things to turn out some way other than this. No one should say that they are surprised.
There are plenty in the technology space that can say better than I how and why this occurred. They may even be correct. But as I look out over the not-so-changed landscape this week all I see is lessons learned – how not to behave when your world is changing (take note Music Industry, News Industry, Nokia, AOL (again), etc.). Sometimes the fight is worth it and sometimes all your friends just shake their head when you hit the mat and say they saw it coming.
What RIM’s death represents to me is that the moment you feel comfortable and in charge is the moment your future shifts. In that instance you lose. That’s why I worry about Apple. That’s why I don’t worry about Google. You’re allowed to make mistakes and have flaws. What you aren’t allowed to do is stand your ground. That instance when you feel you have reached the top is really only the beginning of the tough road. That’s the moment when you should be scrapping your current business and looking to the future. It’s exactly what Amazon and Netflix have done so successfully. They changed the industry they were in and took their shots for it.
Innovation is great. Whatever. RIM was innovative and did amazing things. But what killed them was arrogance and the unwillingness to see the flaws in what they had. Their devices and OS were great for the moment they were in, but they never evolved and made the evolutionary leaps to continue setting the bar. The one counter punch they threw at the iPhone was a weak attempt to pretend they knew what they were about. All it showed was that they had no idea what the future customer wanted.
If you are in real estate, remember this day because we can all be in the same boat. It’s important to ignore the customer of today sometimes and focus on tomorrow’s customer. Look around and see the changing face of our world. Do we really think that 4 wall concrete offices are the way of the future? Do we really think that today’s young people want to sit in a demoralizing cubicle in an office 30 minutes away 5 days a week? Do we really want to make our money closing leases that no one really wants? Because tomorrow that’s where our business is going.
Never be afraid to cannibalize today’s business if it gives tomorrow’s a chance to survive. You will take hits over it and maybe even be called weak for daring to forsake how you make money today. But come tomorrow you’ll be the one with the checks.