You’ve probably seen the news that Kodak might finally be going bankrupt. Most people think they know why. But I think most of them miss the point.
They say Kodak was too hesitant and skeptical and that they missed the digital camera revolution despite inventing it.
But I think the reason goes deeper.
And it has everything to do with communication and lighting the wrong path. Let me explain.
The problem wasn’t that they couldn’t see the revolution. They invented it.
The problem was that they didn’t allow themselves to see it as the path forward.
And that goes back to their famous original slogan:
‘You press the button, we do the rest.’
It’s a brilliant core credo. It puts the customer right at the center.
But here’s the problem: Kodak decided that ‘the rest’ meant making film.
Everything inside the company was about that story.
Make better film.
Sell more film.
Protect the margins on film.
But when that is the story you tell yourself, the digital camera can’t look like an opportunity. It must look like a threat to everything you are.
The tragedy is that the story could have been different.
If they had defined ‘the rest’ as helping people capture moments, then the digital camera could have looked like an opportunity. It would have simply been a different lane on the same path.
But when you describe your path as “making film”, then the digital camera means an entirely different path. Which is impossible for a company of Kodak’s size (and would have neglected everything Kodak stood for).
So, their words trapped them in the wrong lane.
But once you are in the wrong lane, the road eventually ends.
Which it maybe now finally does for Kodak.
Netflix is a great example of how to do it differently. They started as an online DVD rental service. But their path was never about “DVD.” It was always about “entertaining the world”.
On that path, streaming is just another lane, not an entirely new path.
That’s precisely the job of leadership. To light a path that’s motivating enough for today, but flexible enough to carry you tomorrow.
Your job as a leader is to choose words that keep you on the right path. Words that make it possible, even inevitable, to see the next lane when it appears.
Keep lighting the path,
Michael
PS: If you enjoy these real life cases and would like me to dissect one through the PATH lens, hit reply and tell me which story has been on your mind lately.
