“You have the right to change your mind” says Adam Grant in his latest book titled Think Again.
He cites the example of Blackberry. Companies don’t fail on their own. They fail when people running the show fail to change their minds. Blackberry had a 50% market share in the US in 2009, in 2014 it reduced to
1%.
Michael Lazaridis, the genius behind the BlackBerry, the company’s co-founder was too attached to his creation. So much so that he felt a phone with a keyboard was a “differentiated offering” in the market dominated by touchscreens. It was reported that Michael pointed at a Blackberry and announced ” I get this” and then picked an iPhone and said “I don’t get this”
Look around and you will always find someone who is too attached to his/her ideas and opinions. Their opinions become their identity. An attack on their opinions then becomes an attack on their identity. Things fall apart.
If you have a little more courage, look within yourself. Are you too attached to what you think? has that become your identity? when was the last time you challenged your assumptions?
Don’t forget that you have the right to change your mind!! (without losing who you are).
That’s one of the central messages of Adam Grant’s book “Think Again”
One minute notes 