The danger of your business become obsolete is very real indeed, unless you continuously strive to re-invent it. Several years ago via a humorous example, and then again most recently in Chapter 3 of my book, I touched on the difficult predicament of newspapers in maintaining relevance to consumers.
This example speaks to the issue of relevance and the need to evolve your offerings so that they have continuous meaning to consumers and are themselves molding lifestyles. Companies can easily run into the trap of defining their business too narrowly, which blocks them from sensing imminent danger, or the trap of obsessing about being the best rather than being the most relevant, which prevents them from seeing significant new opportunities.
Case in point: The announcement that Newsweek will cease the printed version of its publication. Via the Financial Times:
Other titles would follow Newsweek’s lead, Ms Brown predicted: “This discussion is happening in every journalistic shop in town where there is a print factor. It’s not about whether, it’s about when.”Image via [CNN Money.]
