Nothing Kills Success Like Success

What tends to kill innovation and success in most mid-sized companies? Success.

While there are superstars out there who can lead their organizations to year over year innovation and performance, for most small and mid-sized companies, having the gumption to actually change what is currently working is, in the minds of most management teams, risky.

This leads to very real management discussions along the lines of, "If everything is going along well and we are leading our industry, then why on earth should we innovate or change?" Sadly, I have seen this scenario played out numerous times in companies. Leaders in their perspective markets who were slow to see their markets, customers, suppliers, or competitors changing, having been enamoured by their own success.

"Eventually their "current success" turns to "past success" and organizations are forced into change, having squandered their position of strength."

If the Great Recession has taught us anything it is that the business environment we navigate can and will change rapidly. There is hardly an industry that was not affected by the downturn and that now faces a brave new world of opportunities and risk. Management teams, once comfortable in their company's performance, have been forced into the unfamiliar territory rethinking their business, channel, or product models given their new business landscape. Surveying the Recession's aftermath, many good companies have lived to fight another day, many have not.

Look at your company's current position then ask yourself, what assumptions that guided how you approached your industry's market 18 months ago may no longer be real? What advancements over the past 18 months in how you may approach your customers - such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter - could now be used to your competitive advantage? Given the current competitive landscape, is what made your company successful two years ago still valid today? What talent is out there, ready to be plucked, who could help fuel your organization's growth during the recovery?

And as I ask, what three steps will you take this week to put your thoughts into action?