Saturday, I turn 35.
Growing older is a funny thing. I am still very much the same kid inside, running around my house with a red towel around my neck pretending I’m Superman, except now it’s Spider-Man.
I have kept many of the same views on things throughout my life except now I can communicate my thoughts more clearly.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about aging is the opportunity to observe things over time.
I’ve started to notice a pattern in that all things have a certain shelf life; products, ideas, relationships. Few things seem to stand the test of time.
In every client engagement, I see that there comes a point where all the work has been done, or at least all of the work we’ll do together has been done. Sometimes it grows stale and fades away, sometimes it grows stale and the parting is more swift and contentious.
I’m impressed and amazed at the companies that can keep a client for 10, 15 or 20 years.
I think that the companies that can maintain clients for that long have one of the following: a set-it-and-forget-it type product, or an amazing ability to adapt and innovate.
Few companies have the resources (capital or intellectual) to innovate at that level over such a long period of time.
So, the only other option is to create a set it and forget it product.
Which one are you?
Today’s Assignment: Determine which you are and which you want to be – a) the company or person that does business until it goes stale, and then finds a new opportunity b) the company or person that develops the set it and forget it product or service c) the company or person that consistently innovates and adapts