
Engineer Steve Sasson invented the digital camera in Kodak's R&D labs in the 1970s. At that time Kodak owned over 80% of the film business in the U.S. But their leadership rejected the digital camera, fearing it would cannibalize their existing film business.
Over time, other companies perfected digital photography and took advantage of the explosive digital market. Kodak executives refused to even consider a new way of doing things. This giant company -- a leader in their field -- declared bankruptcy in 2012.
When was the last time someone brought you a great new product or idea . . . and you chose not to consider it?
Many times whether it's in sales or in life , we're not open to new ideas. We're too busy worrying about the task at hand or we don't want to get out of our comfort zone. And we end up going back to 'our same old way' of doing things.
The next time someone approaches you with a new product or idea maybe you need to pause, do your research and consider learning more about it.
It might just be the next big thing!
As a boss or a leader, we need to be both stubborn and open-minded. But just because we might not understand something or it looks different, doesn't mean it's not a great idea.
The difficulty lies, not so much in developing new ideas,
as in escaping from old ones. - John Keynes
