If you’re only acting after someone else has proven the value of something, you’re not getting the incremental margin and value out of it, says Steve Samek, author of the first Facing the Forces of Change study for NAW, in The Folly of Fast Following.
“Fast followers tend to go from one business opportunity or fad to another, from one idea to another,” Samek says. “And in the end they have no identity.”
While quickly adopting new innovations may have been enough to keep you ahead of the curve in the past, today it means you're bound to be left behind. Focus on adapting new ideas to fit your specific needs instead of moving onto the next fad.
“The true fact is that there’s almost nothing new. Most change is actually incremental; it’s how fast you adapt an idea or concept to your business and then passionately implement it,” Samek says. Previous generations wanted things to be completely right before rollout. But now, that’s simply too long. “Now you get it close and you perfect it,” he says.
Read more about staying ahead of the innovation curve in The Folly of Fast Following.
