We can love what we do, but we can’t fall in love with what we do.
That type of attachment will be the end of us.
Nothing against love, but when we’re smitten by our own enterprise, hopelessly enchanted by our own work, the blinders of the heart obstruct the vision of the brand.
And like Narcissus, infatuated with our own reflection, we can’t see what’s obvious, practical and profitable.
Sometimes we fall in love with our own technology. And we never question our own assumptions about redundancy. Take Kodak. They filed for bankruptcy because they failed to innovate and adapt to the digital world.
Sometimes we e fall in love with our own inventory. And it’s hard to imagine why the rest of the world doesn’t feel the same way. Take BlackBerry. Their sales plummeted last year because they never realized the mobile world had already passed them by.
Sometimes we fall in in love with our own press. And we spend all our time soaking in the accolades instead of trying to get better. Take Toyota. Their quality slipped because they obsessed over company legend instead of customer legroom.
Sometimes we fall in love with our own ideas. And we get so close to them that we overestimate their potential. Take John Carter. Pixar lost two hundred million dollars because this boring, bloated, poorly marketed epic couldn’t recoup their massive budget.
Sometimes we fall in love with our own perspective. And terminal certainty blocks our acceptance of better ideas. Like Lehman Brothers. They filed the largest bankruptcy in the nation’s history and started a global financial crisis because they were too big to fail.
And yet, I still believe that business without love, isn’t.
But I also believe that emotion distorts evaluation. And if we want our brand to stick around, we owe it to our customers, our employees and ourselves to love what we do, but not fall in love with what we do.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What are you falling in love with?
LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “11 Things to Stop Wasting Your Time On” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!
* * * * Scott Ginsberg That Guy with the Nametag Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting [email protected]
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