One of the facts that prompted QI TV Series producer, John Lloyd, to pursue the idea for the long-running panel show was that when basketball was first invented, it took 21 years for someone to work out they should put a hole in the basket. Perhaps they thought ‘What’s wrong with climbing up a ladder?’
Being blind to new ideas is hardly new then.
Business gurus are quick to point out that failure to adapt is a failure to survive and that this ‘stubbornness of old ideas’ is in part due to the way we experience the world, reaffirming the things we believe to be true and ignoring evidence to the contrary.
“Kill complacency before it kills you,” said Apple’s Steve Jobs, the man behind the disruptive iTunes, iPad and iPhone. The mobile phone sector has seen its own fair share of die-don’t-adapt business failures, none much bigger than one time market leaders Nokia and Blackberry.
But it was the mobile phone’s inventor and producer of the biggest selling phone of the early 2000s that went on to lose $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009. Email, photos and apps, meant that despite the success of it’s all conquering ‘Razr’, Motorola lost marketshare and ultimately its handset business was acquired by Chinese-owned, Lenovo.
In the early 80s, two million Commodore 64 home computers were sold every year, giving Commodore International almost 50% of the market. It counted NASA and the Royal Household as customers, but gained a reputation for poorly treating customers and distributors. A number of ill-judged and costly products, plus the fracturing of the market into PCs and consoles, led the company to go bankrupt in 1994.
And the list goes on. Blockbuster famously rebuffed Netflix when a partnership was offered. “The demise of Blockbuster is a case of extreme hubris,” says Forbes’ Ben Zimmerman.
Shortly after the UK electronics firm, Maplin, went into administration in 2018, over 200 of its high street stores disappeared.
The company blamed a combination of factors – sterling devaluation “post Brexit”, a “weak consumer environment” and the withdrawal of credit insurance – but looming large over the rubble, was a highly efficient, highly competitive killer organisation, Amazon.
Founded in 1976 as a mail order business, Maplin changed hands a number of times but adapted little, and by 2014 had over 2,000 staff and was valued at £85 million. Just four years later, it was another victim of changing consumer behaviour and a costly high street in a brave new online world. The name survives, but having been unable to beat them, it’s not only joined the online sector, it’s even got its own Amazon store.
What makes people stick to their failing old ways?
Psychologists state that as we go through life, learning how things work, far from building on first impressions and expanding our horizons, we become less able to imagine other possibilities. Our mental models become instinctive and standard practices become “the right way to do things.”
The matter has been brought home to us by our move into developing markets, seeing how long loads are handled outside the sideloader’s core European markets. Spoiler alert, it’s mostly forklifts.
Here’s what we know about forklifts –
1. They’re great for pallets.
2. They’re less great for other things.
It’s not so much the unawareness of the brand – that’s something we can challenge – but the reluctance to consider that moving long products with counterbalance trucks may not be the smartest, safest, most productive or even the only way, to do things.
In Canada, we are asked for points on how to convert forklift operators. In Australia, operators insist that it’s not possible for fast-paced operations to do anything different. We look round incredulous at their vast aisle widths and low racking. Then they wizz off with loads high in the air, trying not to tip the truck over, lose the load or hit anything, whilst hardly being able to see where they are going.
Of course, once you’re on the side of a debate, you’re biased.
Yes, of course we want to see more sales, but we’re not trying to sell the first fax machine here – imagine that guy’s struggle! This is a concept that has been proven for over half a century. It is put to use by thousands of businesses across dozens of market sectors. It’s built for a purpose, and, like all good businesses, has evolved with the times.
Ready To Talk?
We have been manufacturing and supplying sideloaders to the steel industry for over half a century. We understand our side, and we listen to you to learn from your side.
That means you get a product that is perfect for your needs, to help your business grow and to protect your team.
Get in touch with us to see how we can help. Email info@baumann-sideloaders.co.uk or contact us here.
