By Chris Ramey
The 2001 movie “Bubble Boy” was about a boy who lived in a plastic bubble because his severe immunodeficiency genetic disorder caused him to be vulnerable to infectious diseases. The bubble protected him.
You and I live in bubbles too; industry bubbles. They’re not tangible. Nor do they protect you. Instead, they protect the industry and promote parity by keeping you inside the bubble. I work across many categories and I’ve learned that most industries reinforce their bubble as their Bible. Industry leaders hold sway only when you’re inside the bubble.
The result is stagnation; firms are stuck inside their bubble while the rest of the world blows by them. It’s why disruption almost always happens from outside an industry.
There’s safety and power in parity.
It’s human nature to be comfortable inside your insulated bubble. You can congratulate each other and chat-up your relevance. You might even begin to hallucinate that your peers/competitors have your best interest at heart, and that “word of mouth” is more effective than real marketing. It’s akin to Garrison Keillor’s fictional Minnesota town where “all the children are above average.”
You may live inside your bubble, but you compete outside your bubble.
Outside your bubble, you discover your importance diminishes. Most prospects don’t know you, and your peers are working against you. Reality and friction are as comfortable as standing at a windy Chicago bus stop in January with no coat to wear.
Don’t drop your associations; leverage them as your baseline for your curiosity. Ian Schrager, the famous hotelier, recently said, “The only way you can compete with a strong idea is by having another strong idea.” Strong ideas are fleeting. The moment an idea/strategy is embraced by others is the moment that same idea/strategy devolves into cost of entry where only its absence is recognized.
Be more curious and plan your escape.
Don’t expect your industry bubble to provide you with innovative strategies to move outside your bubble. At best, you’ll get innovative strategies to keep you inside the bubble. An old saw is “Everybody wants change. But nobody wants to change.” Which might be fine if the world was standing still; but it’s not. You can’t increase your share of market without moving faster than your industry bubble.
What once saved you may now be commoditizing you. There is a fine line between rigidity and rigor mortis.
I cringed when I heard an Interior Designer at a conference proudly tell resources in the room that if they want to sell her then they “need to call my office and make an appointment.” Anyone with this mindset is intellectually dead and so is their business. Nobody should depend on anybody else to determine their bandwidth and how they serve their clients.
The need to be sold to sooth your ego must never trump your curiosity to find new ways to grow and serve your clients. Curiosity to grow outside your bubble should be visceral and eternally embedded in your psyche.
Curiosity is your cure.
My three-year-old granddaughter lives in a major metropolitan city. She recently pronounced, after returning from a city playground, “I love the outdoors. I wish it was bigger.” Her bubble is akin to your bubble. Someday she’ll be allowed to explore the rest of the world. Like her, you’ll find growth only by exploring outside your bubble; stop waiting for permission.
Fear any competitor who is more curious than you.
A unique point of view will always be a pillar of luxury. Distinction, innovation and differentiation will always be key to retailing. The most successful business leaders are always the most curious and most fluid. They’ll have a vision for their company that isn’t dependent upon any one resource, one group, one brand, one category, one publisher or one medium. They understand the market is in constant flux; following others is anathema.
Marketers reference “omnichannel” to describe leveraging all media. You need to embrace an omnichannel mindset for growth. Industry bubbles, by their very nature, promote parity and move slowly.
Curiosity creates legacy brands
Are you serious about growth and creating a legacy brand? Get curious. Explore where others aren’t looking. Search for new ideas, new products and context by escaping your self-imposed bubble.
My granddaughter’s wish for bigger outdoors will come true as she grows. She’ll demand it. And so should you. Get curious; you’ll discover what The Weather Channel already knows “It’s Amazing Out There.”
Chris Ramey is president of The Home Trust International and his consultancy is Affluent Insights. He can be reached at cpr@affluentinsights.com.