The telco industry needs to evolve, and there’s no better way for this to happen but to be disruptive in the business.
In this year’s Asian Carriers Conference, an annual gathering of network industry executives in Asia, disruption in the industry was clearly defined and presented by Ex-Apple executive and Canva Chief Executive Evangelist Guy Kawasaki.
During Kawasaki’s keynote speech at the 2nd day of the annual event held at Shangri La Mactan-Cebu, he pointed out several tips to disrupt the industry.
Don’t Ask Customers
It is very difficult to ask the customers to disrupt the business. If you truly want to change the world, you may not be able to ask your customers. Your customers define the change in terms of what they already know.
When Guy was in Apple, consumers demanded a new Apple II. There was no way for them to progress but to meet the demands of their customers. They didn’t have to ask for it. If you truly want to disrupt the industry, do not ask your customers.
Jump to the Next Curve
Do not build a better one, get to the next curve of computing. You could be the most successful “ice factory” but if you don’t want to get to the refrigerator business, you will not succeed. Think of all the taxi cab companies and hotel business that are threatened by Lyft, Uber and AirBnB
Check out some of the companies who failed or had difficulties to jump to the next curve
- Kodak
- Wang
- Polaroi
- Smith Coron
Shift to making MVVVP
Making an MVP product isn’t enough, according to Kawasaki. For the brand evangelist, it is best to make an MVVVP or Minimum Viable Valuable Validating Product. This doesn’t have to be perfect, but has to be well thought of.
Make Design Count
Steve Jobs believed that engineers are artists. To disrupt the market, think of engineers as people who make art. Design is an essential part of customer journey, and attributing more value to process, project, UX and UI engineers
Be willing to poralize people
Some people will love what you do; some will hate what you do. The worst case is that people don’t care about what you do. Great innovation tends to piss people off, so suck it up.
Ignore naysayers.
Naysayers are going to tell you that “it’s not necessary”, “it couldn’t be done”. Guy sees naysayers are bozos, and for him, there are 2 kinds of bozos: (1) loser; (2) winner: famous, rich, dresses in all black.
Sample of “bozasity” in the industry:
- “I think there is a world market for maybe five computer.” ~ Thomas Watson
- “This telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriouslty considered as a means of communication. The device inherently of no value to us.”, Western Union internal memo, 1876
- “There is no reason why anyone would want ta computer in their home.” ~Ken Olsen, Founder, Digital Equipment 1977
Change your mind.
To be a successful disruptor, be willing to change your mind.
When the first iPhone was released in 2007, it revolutionized the mobile industry. While it was positioned as a communication and entertainment device, it was foremost a gadget that was made to do more things.
iOS, which powers the device, when it was initially launched was a closed system. It was difficult for developers to be more creative with their applications and games. A year later, Apple changed everything by introducing an SDK, which developers can use to create amazing things, and boy it changed everything.
Create something unique and valuable.
You don’t want to be in a position where you create “stupid” products. As defined by Guy, these products are neither unique nor valuable. Where you want to be in is at the upper right corner of the matrix, where you create memorable, unique and valuable products like the one below.
Let 100 flowers blossom.
Declare victory! You claimed that sweet victory, and now grab it like you wanted to do it before.
Churn, baby, churn.
This is the end process of the MVVVP. But you don’t end with that MVVVP. Listen to feedback and keep on improving. While this the toughest thing for a disruptor to do, the consistency to keep the fire burning is key to continuous progress and innovation.
