The following is the introduction from Pip's new book The Change Function. You can also download the introduction, plus the entire first chapter in the PDF file linked above.
The Change Function, is also available for purchase on Amazon.com or at Barnes & Noble
INTRODUCTION
Early in my career an old boss of mine,Ed Petner insisted that I
squeeze the entire investment case for every stock I ever wanted to buy onto
a single sheet of paper.It was one of the most challenging tasks I ’ve
ever tackled,but it was well worth it.Hopefully Ed will appreciate that
the entire presumption of this book is whittled to just two pages —and I
am even eating into it by relaying his direction. My aim is to address two
key issues that exist in the technology industry today.
ISSUE 1: HIGH-TECH FAILURE RATES STINK
The commercial failure
rate of nominally great new
technologies is troublingly high.
That failure
rate is consistent with the hatred and distrust
most normal human beings
—which I like to call Earthlings —
tend to have of high technology.
That
hatred and distrust is a bummer since our little planet
can use all the help
technology might provide.
ISSUE 2: SUPPLIERS THINK THEY ARE IN CHARGE BUT IN REALITY USERS ARE IN CHARGE
The technology industry operates according to an
implicit
supplier-oriented assumption.
That assumption is that if one
builds great new disruptive
technologies and lets cost reduction kick
in,
markets will naturally appear.This is known as
“build it and they will
come.”
This mentality is a major problem.Adopting a new technology
requires changing the habits of users.The industry acts as if change is
easy when it ’s actually quite dif ficult.Users will change their habits when
the pain of their current situation is greater than their perceived pain
of adopting a possible solution —this is the crux of The Change Function
.
I believe that users are always in charge and that supply is a
necessary but not suf ficient condition for commercial success.Companies
and products geared toward this holistic user orientation will succeed at
far greater rates than those stuck in a supplier-oriented mind-set.
The
goal of this book is to look at what has failed in the past,to understand
how the industry came to be in the position it is in today. And, through the
prism of The Change Function,to spotlight examples of what might and might
not work in the future and to examine a few corporate cultures that seem to
get it. But this is not eight easy steps to success. Change is not
easy.
“It is not necessary to change.Survival is not
mandatory.”
—W.Edwards Deming
That ’s it.So long.
29009_Intro.Ch1.pdf (426 Kb)