Looking Back
Reimagining the world as it is could, should, or might be will allow you to leapfrog those that lacked foresight and capture disproportionate growth.
Crisis propels rapid shifts. Those that wait for the "new normal" to be apparent will be lost behind those that anticipate what it is likely to be and innovate ahead of certainty.
In 1939, Sessions was the number one clock manufacturer, Waterbury was number two. Both converted to war-effort production. In 1945, Sessions returned to clock making. Waterbury launched Timex, a durable, highly accurate, inexpensive wristwatch to nurses leaving the military. They bet she was not going to stay at home so a clock on the mantel was going to be far less relevant than time on her wrist.
Post-war Packard resumed to producing the big, luxurious cars of 1930, thinking they could work on new designs once sales resumed. Jeep bet returning GIs would want to emulate their heroes and drive the rugged, knock-about vehicles that took them to victory. The Jeep CJ2A rolled on to consumer showroom floors in 1945, even before most soldiers were home.
During the war, Coca-Cola was asked to open ten bottling plants to produce for soldiers. CEO Robert Woodruff opened 64 to ensure that "...every man in uniform can get a bottle of Coca-Cola for 5 cents anywhere in the world." That change helped Coca-Cola reimagine its organization as a central platform of brands with expansive, localized production capability that could serve any market in the world.
What bets will pay off following the pandemic of 2020? We don’t know. The only thing for sure is that opportunity will be found in purposeful adaptability. The shift to digital is momentous. Self-reliance for health and wellness is paramount. The fear of shortage is engrained by experience in category after category. Yet, the most significant change may not even be one of these. Just as Operations teams keep the wheels on, Innovation teams must explore multiple new realities at the same time. The first will get us through, and the former will move us forward, ensuring growth and relevance for years to come.
About Spark Starter Studio.
We are growth hackers. We help you find your relevance and what must be true about your products and your consumer relationships to be preferred. We help you achieve proof of concept with the most advanced transactional learning tools so you can know what, where and how big the opportunity is. We are strategic, creative and forward looking. We would love to help you discover your advantage.
