The corporate world was divided up quite nicely back in the early 1980's - in the US anyway. There were, I shall call them, Imperial Companies who ruled the roost. And each of them ruled over their corresponding fiefdoms. They controlled everything from supply to distribution to point of sale! And even resale sometimes! In the US market, AT&T ruled over all that was voice telecommunications. IBM ruled over all that was computing and hardware. And Nintendo ruled over all that was videogame consoles and game software.
Nintendo is a company that I admire greatly and have followed since I was 14 years old - as a customer and aficionado. It's a company that represents well the message I want to share with you in this series. While I could speak all day to anyone who would listen about my connection to Nintendo, I'd much rather talk to you about the corporate mindset of Nintendo and how it had to rise from the ashes like the mythical Phoenix. In the gaming industry, life is short and the rewards are fleeting for companies who are not quick and nimble enough to respond to the ever-changing advances in technology and consumer desires.
Videogame console and software companies such as Atari, Commodore, Coleco, Sega, and, of course, the great video arcade rooms themselves; were no match for Nintendo when it made its US debut in 1985. I should digress a bit and tell you that the most tragic corporate story in the gaming industry is Atari. Don't worry, I'll tell you more about them later as they truly represent everything in life you don't want to be! But in the 1980's, Nintendo was a cut above the rest in every way that you could possibly think of. Imagine a company that sat atop the heap of videogame consoles and gaming software companies without a major competitive threat in sight! In fact, you would have been hard-pressed to find anyone who did not possess (or want) the Nintendo Entertainment System. Yes folks, Nintendo was just that good and popular. So much so that they became the de facto standard for videogame consoles. Indeed, Nintendo was the Google of its day!
Do you know what you're good at? Do other people know what you're good at? Do you know the reason why people call you? Do you know the reason why people don't call you? Do people come to you when they need an answer or opinion for something of substance? These are quite humbling questions for individuals because oftentimes you find that you don't have clear, or readily available, answers. And so you begin to look inside yourself and delve deep into the abyss of your mind; probing your past experiences, education, activities, and recollected conversations with friends/family/co-workers/acquaintances, etc. For some, the answers come quick...for others, they come slowly...if at all.
Average companies rarely, if at all, ask themselves these questions. The good companies do it on a somewhat scheduled basis - and ad-hoc even! But the great ones have it systematized throughout their corporate DNA, thus compelling each individual employee to constantly ask themselves probing questions about the value of their jobs and contributions to the overall corporate vision and mission. This concept is captured very well in Jim Collins' classic book, "Good to Great". If you have not read it I implore you to do so before I publish my next post in this series. It is one of those rare books that really induces a mental-shift within its readers. What does all of this have to do with Job Complacency you ask? Stay tuned for Part 1 of this series...
