With eighty-nine days to the end of the year, it’s the perfect time to evaluate your goals for 2023. Did you achieve them? I hope you did because you’re the one I want to address today!
Most people by nature under state their failures while they overstate their successes. Interviews for jobs are designed to take on people who have failed the least. We love social media because it portrays happiness not sadness. Nothing wrong with that narrative.
The reason I am addressing success on this post is because you and I learn from failure but rarely do we learn from success. When one becomes successful in 2023, he/she will do more of what they did in 2023 come 2024. We repeat what makes us successful. Why change it if its working?
The problem with such thinking is that “Knowledge is different from all other resources. It makes itself constantly obsolete, so that today’s advanced knowledge is tomorrow’s ignorance” says Peter Drucker.
Case in point: In 1981, Sony released the Sony Mavica, a prototype of the electronic camera. Kodak had every ability to respond – after all, it had invented the digital camera in 1975 and held patents for it. But it was too tempting to stick with the status quo, film. Kodak was the clear market leader and its sales crossed $10 billion that year, nearly all from film. Why change?
A study by Kodak’s head of market intelligence, Vince Barabba, predicted that digital would replace film. But this displacement would take ten years, far too long to bother doing anything about. Kodak took no action, unlike its rival Agfa, which sold its film business, and Fuji, which made digital a strategic priority.
Failure to learn from success could stem from two errors. Errors of Commission and Omission. Errors of commission are rooted in misappropriation of resources. Taking funds meant for children to buy Ministers cars is an error of commission. Errors of omission arise from failing to grow the pie by coasting.
Kodak’s inertia was an error of omission that led to its bankruptcy in 2012 – a huge fall from grace, as Kodak had been worth $31 billion at its peak and employed 150,000 people at one point. Yet Kodak was never subjected to the media backlash that high CEO pay or share repurchases, supposed errors of commission, currently receive.
Are you ready to build on your success in 2024? You need to reinvent yourself by optimizing what you’re good at, finding opportunities in places you never thought were possible.
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