What is the key element that makes one person or entity a success whereas another is a complete failure? I have been thinking about this a lot at work lately as I look at example of corporate success and business flops. For every cover story, there are pages full of obituaries. For ever winner at the top of the platform, there are a long list of "losers."
Some say that in life or in business success is all about hard work. But I see a lot of hard work going into failing ventures. Others say it all boils down to timing and luck. But what about those brilliant minds who try one thousands ideas before they come across the right one. For every lucky guy there are a number of people who like Thomas Edison seem to be successful by shear will power and refusing to give up.
Do you have to think differently and pioneer new things in order to be a success? Or can you win by simply doing the same old thing? Is there one key element to success? Or is success something that can have many different ingredients depending on the particular circumstance?
A perfect example of success and failure is the comparison between two major retailers in the United States - Circuit City and Best Buy. A number of years ago, I had never heard of Best Buy. It was a struggling consumer electronics retailer. But in the 1990s, it grew to become the largest in its field. Forbes named Best Buy "Company of the Year" in 2004. During the same time, Circuit City had fallen from its perch and had lost market share to Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Why? Well, Wal-Mart promised low price and Best Buy offered a better shopping experience. Circuit City could not match the purchasing power of Wal-Mart, and it did not seem to have the pulse of customers like Best Buy. This shows that success is not static. Today's success story can be tomorrow's flop. You have to respond to the times and market changes while keeping a firm grasp of timeless truths that tend to remain the same.
What will it require for our company to be successful in the future? I spend a lot of time thinking about that and am not really sure what the right answers are. I want to be the next Best Buy in our field, but I sometimes worry that we are just going to ride our past success and miss out on the next big thing like Circuit City did.
