johnmaconline

We get all excited about inventors and first to market, but sometimes, fast follower is the best strategy.

In the early 2000’s, the company where I worked (called Agere Systems at the time) was the partial inventor of and first to market with a technology that ultimately transformed everyday life for most of the globe. We called it WaveLAN, and then bewilderingly, ORiNOCO. My guess is you’ve never heard of WaveLAN or ORiNOCO.

But you know it by the more ubiquitous term, WiFi. 

At the time, WiFi wasn’t a thing. Not only the term, but the technology itself — unless you had Apple gear. They were the first one’s to push wireless networking into the consumer world at scale. They called it AirPort and it comprised almost 100% of the early consumer WiFi market.

Our stuff, i.e., Agere’s WaveLAN, was inside all of the Apple products — the desktops, laptops, and the wireless router itself (called AirPort BaseStation). We had a one-size-fits-all solution for all three components. Therefore, we also enjoyed almost 100% of the early consumer WiFi market. At its largest, the WaveLAN business for Agere was between $300 and $400 million. Thank you, Apple.

And within about 18 months, the WaveLAN business went from almost $400 million to zero. Totally gone. 18 months.

Our solution, although functionally solid as a system, was expensive, power-hungry, kludgy, difficult to program, and required a ton of engineering customization throughout the entire system, from the IC design and manufacture to embedded and application software and the PCB board design. We filled in sinkholes and shortcomings in one area of the system by making adjustments in another. 

Then, once the market was established, more computer and router companies jumped in. To support them, more semiconductor companies jumped in to improve on the shortcomings of our system. The IEEE 802.11 spec continued to evolve and new versions came out that increased speed and took less power.

We just couldn’t keep up. Our initial solution was basically a one-off that relied so heavily on our vertical integration, that not only couldn’t we quickly introduce new features, we couldn’t scale. We lost it all.

The fast followers ate our shorts.

Being second in the market has some advantages. You get to see where the first one made mistakes. You get to think about how to apply economies of scale. You get to see what customers really care about. You get to move the state of the art forward in the areas that matter.

First is sexy, but second may win the day.

I was asked that the other day.

It caught me off guard because what do you say? What’s the context? Who’s asking? When? What do they care about?

Like you, I’m many different things, but does “who” ever change?

I’m still working on it.

What’s the cost of a mistake?

Sometimes, it’s almost nothing. If I spell a wrod wrong in this article, nobody’s gonna care.

Sometimes, it’s life and death. If the mechanic neglects to secure the lug nuts or the heart surgeon skips a step, somebody’s life is in danger.

Most of the time, it’s somewhere in the middle, and you can measure it in terms of dollars, time, or reputation. You get to decide which axis matters most to you. But also, your customers, partners, family, and team get to decide what matters most to them. The beauty of existential experience. Are you sync’d up?

Your job is to ensure that you minimize the chances of high-cost mistakes. You can invest in systems to do so — education, procedures, tools, automation, and redundancy. Installing systems also costs dollars, time, and reputation.

Should we build the robot and write the code to automate this testing?
Should we buy the robot and automated test tool?
Should we buy another mower so we can keep mowing if this one breaks?
Should we get AWS certified?
Should we outsource this part of our process?

Systems cost you on the front-end. Mistakes cost you on the back-end.

You get to decide which is more expensive.

Seeing the official notice is jarring.

It’s not surprising. You knew it was coming.

The bell tolls. The end of an era. The end of your time in this organization, with this community. You poured yourself into this place. You built great stuff, a great team, and great relationships. You’ve bled and sweat with these people. It wasn’t your fault, but also it wasn’t enough.

It’s necessary. Growth requires it. Your journey requires it. You will be OK, probably even better. So will they.

When the bell tolls, listen, feel, step off the old path, and head out on the new one.

Does this look familiar?

You: OK, great! I’ll send you the invite for tomorrow at 3.
Them: Sounds good. Looking forward to it.

And then silence. Or worse, they accept the meeting but then ghost you.

How about this one?

You: To confirm, you’ll have this ready for tomorrow?
Them: Yes! It’s my highest priority.

Tomorrow rolls around, and nothing. Or maybe it’s “done,” but it’s not what you discussed and certainly not what you need.

Ever been here?

You: So you’ll help introduce me to that person?
Them: Yes, of course! I’d be happy to help.

And then it never happens.

We’re quick to judge. We feel like the other person is lazy or incompetent. We get frustrated, and we complain to the poor souls who happen to be standing around within earshot.

It’s not true. The other person isn’t lazy or incompetent. 

What is true, however, is that the other person doesn’t care about our thing as much as we do. How could they? They’re not us.

As Seth Godin says, “The person we’re counting on doesn’t see what we see, doesn’t know what we know and might not even want what we want.”

There are two important leadership lessons here. The first is that when counting on someone else to help, I need to create the conditions for success. The second is that I need to care about them first.

Both of those are my jobs. 

Barreling ahead: Unstoppable. Force of will. Make it happen. My way or the highway.

Laying back: Patience. Conservation. Waiting for the right time. What do you think?

Which do you apply and when? Exactly, that’s the question. 

I find my comfort zone is the best guide.

In hindsight, I can see how the comfort zone has shaped my journey. I recognize the little monuments of both growth and regression over my path that directly related to my level of comfort. Most times I grew, made progress, or ended up better, it was because I stepped out or was forced out of my comfort zone. I can also look back and regret the opportunities missed or not taken because I was too afraid to test the waters outside the comfort zone.

Which feels more uncomfortable in the moment?

Do the uncomfortable. 

Every business is in the business of customer service.

The customer isn’t always right, but it would be almost impossible to overstate how important customer service is to your business. 

What does your customer want?

On the one hand, they want the principle of least astonishment. If you run a $$$$ restaurant with linen tablecloths, you shouldn’t serve your wine in pink plastic kids’ cups, and you shouldn’t ignore them for 90 minutes. Your customers have some expectations of the environment you will provide. 

But on the other hand, they want to be delighted. To delight them, you may indeed wish to astonish them. It’s all about the axis on which you choose to astonish.

The magic of competing in your marketplace is to know which axes require least astonishment and which axes are ripe for astonishment. This rings true whether you’re a restaurant, tire installer, accounting firm, or software company.

You should know which is which. 

If you’re trying to do or make something for someone else, you’ll either be judged or you’ll be ignored.

We say we don’t like being judged. I certainly say that.

Being ignored is the alternative. It’s certainly more comfortable to be ignored. No risk. Very safe. Won’t make you distracted as you sit comfortably on your couch in the evening.

But is that better?