Let’s be fair, when you think of innovation, you probably think of companies that innovate. You don’t necessarily think of yourself as innovating. Netflix used to have a very different business model.
Their entire business used to revolve around one thing: DVDs. You rented a DVD and they sent it to you.
After two or three weeks, or however long it took you to watch it, you sent it back and they sent you the next movie. That’s the basic model they had back then. At that time they were against Blockbuster.
I found one of these DVDs not long ago when I was unpacking after moving into my new house.
This is what’s crazy. If Netflix had stuck to its old business model, it would have been out of business. They would have been in the same graveyard as another company called Blockbuster.
Blockbuster did not know how to innovate in time. This failure led an $8 billion company to bankruptcy.
The curious thing is that the same year that Blockbuster declared bankruptcy, Netflix began to expand abroad and also reached 20 million subscribers.
Now you may be wondering how it was possible. She simply realized that if she wasn’t going to change and innovate, she was going to be destroyed.
By not being carried away by convenience, they avoided joining companies like Blockbuster in bankruptcy.
What does this have to do with you?
Many of us read books, and the books talk about how innovative Apple is, and how innovative Amazon is. The list goes on. But let’s talk about you. How innovative are you?
How often do you change? How often do you improve yourself?
There are tens of thousands of companies that went bankrupt because they stopped changing. Most of them were winners at some point. This also applies to people who stop changing.
Many of them were demoted, fired, lost clients and business.
When was the last time you recreated yourself so that no one would recognize you? Be honest with yourself.
When was the last time you met up with your family or friends, sat down with them, and they just told you that they didn’t recognize you anymore?
Maybe you’ve changed the way you speak, added new words to your vocabulary, or simply become wiser.
Let’s take this example. You have a certain reputation among your friends and they know that they can make fun of you from time to time. You don’t see them for about 6 months and when you finally meet them again, they treat you exactly the same.
They’re just used to it. The way you respond to this shows whether you have truly changed or not.
It’s never too late to make a positive change and demand respect from the people in your life.
What this means for you is that if Netflix changed and became the monstrosity it is today, what could happen to you if you changed and recreated yourself?
How successful could you be in the future?
I think this message is timeless. I also hope that reading this article gives someone the courage to change and recreate themselves.
It’s never too late, and the right time is now
