You Haven't Arrived, Yet

If you're company is riding a successful product innovation, just know that someone is trying to cut through your market share. You probably won't see it until that competitor obliterates you -- and when that happens, it might be too late to pick up the pieces. Clayton Christensen puts it best, when describing how companies had to stay competitive in the hard drive industry: "Coping with the relentless onslaught of technology change was akin to trying to climb a mudslide raging down a hill. You have to scramble with everything you've got to stay on top of it, and if you ever once stop to catch your breath, you get buried." All products become obsolete. It's happened to the 8-track. Then the Walkman. Then the CD player. Now, the MP3 players rules them all. If Apple doesn't keep innovating, and has the "We've arrived" syndrome with its iPod, your kids will be singing tunes to a different company.

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