The great divide: Decisive ones and those that let opportunities slip by

By WALE AKINYEMI

There were 18 search engines before Google yet Google became the dominant one. How did they accomplish this?

Skype had a 17-year head-start over Zoom but Zoom became the platform of the pandemic. What did they do differently? What of those that did not make it? We have Thomas Cook, once a global giant in the tourism and travel industry with travel shops and agencies around the world and their own airline. They had 21,000 employees. On September 23, 2019, the company went into liquidation leaving all their 21,000 employees without a job and 600,000 customers stranded across the globe.

And there came Yahoo, which was the pioneer internet giant that had an opportunity to buy Google for $1 million, buy Facebook for $1.1 billion, to buy EBay and YouTube.

Timeless brands like Rolls Royce — a company established in 1904 that is still at the cutting edge of technology and class over a century later. Gillette and Rolex have remained in positions of dominance for over a century. We also have the ridiculous — The Antinori family who have been producing wine since 1385 and then the extra ridiculous like Japanese Hotel Hoshni Ryokan that has been in existence since 718 AD.

Leaders need to understand the operating terrain. Years ago the boss not only had the title but also most likely the most learned, most exposed and most travelled. This is not the case today.

The yesteryear customer was patient, forgiving, uninformed and had limited options. Today’s is impatient because of the instant environment in which they operate. They are unforgiving because social media has made everyone a media house that gives a voice to both the wise and the foolish. They have many options and are very sensitive.

New media influence

They thrive on likes and follows. They want to see the feeling and sensation that they get from social media likes and follows replicated in the real world.

Kylie Jenner and Snapchat are a good case study is the case between. Snapchat is a social media platform and Kylie Jenner – American media personality, socialite, model, and businesswoman – was one of their most active users. She starred in the E! reality TV series Keeping Up with the Kardashians from 2007 to 2021 and is the founder and owner of cosmetic company Kylie Cosmetics. She is from the famous Kardashian family.

Snapchat made changes to their design and layout and Kylie was not happy with it. So she went to Twitter with the following: “Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad.” In another tweet she said, “Still love you tho snap … my first love.” This was in 2018 when she was 21 years old. Within 24 hours, Snapchat had lost a value of $1.3 billion.

These are the customers of the future and the future started yesterday. They are not only the customers. They are the employees. Creating an experience for them is insulation against when things do not go as planned.

If your environment is changing faster than you think and your capacity, no matter how great you were yesterday, you will be a victim of the future.

Wale Akinyemi is convenor of the Street University (www.thestreetuniversity.com) and chief transformation officer, PowerTalks; [email protected]