Discussion 1:
The video is pretty awesome. I didn't know that no one knew about sliced bread for over 15 years. I'm going to bring up a company that most of you probably don't know about because it is based around the community of gamers. Fortnite is a sandbox survival video game where 100 people start on an island and as the game goes on the island gets smaller and smaller, until the last person survives. The company that developed this game is Epic Games.
The reason i think they are innovative is because they first developed the game as a player vs environment video game. This means you only play against the computer and it tended to just beating the bosses and leveling up. When the game first came out it had little to no revenue. No one was interested in playing this video game because it was honestly boring. This game was in development since 2011 and talked about at almost every convention and eventually the craze for the game died down.
Here's the great part. The game was so boring they made no revenue and it was around the time Payer Unknown Battle Grounds came out. PUBG was making huge revenue with the highest grossing game of 2017 and the game was still in Beta (development).
They noticed this and took feedback from many other developers. "Immediate response to customer feedback" (Weiss, 2016) Fornite decided that since the game wasn't making any money and creating a battle royale game wasn't that difficult to make, because the game was already made that they would come out with there own version, but for free. Fortnite also teamed with Twitch and some high profiting streamers to get more advertising out and now the game is the most profiting free game out there.
They now won people's voice award for best multiplayer/competitive game and are nominated for seven other awards in 2018. With there cooperation "growth through coordination, occurs when formal systems are used to achieve greater coordination by more efficiently allocating corporate and local resources." (Weiss, 2016) They used the resources of the internet and took now financial records, marketing advertising, and peer responses.
Discussion #2
Think of an innovative company and explain how its ability to adapt has enabled the organization to remain competitive in its industry.
When I think of an innovative company I think of Netflix. Netflix started off as the underdog to the movie industry. It all started when they approached BlockBuster with a deal to partner with them in which they were laughed at and told no. Reed Hasting and Marc Randolph founded the company in 1997. I think one of Godin rules applied to the action of Netflix.
Godin (2003) states the number two rule as, "The riskiest thing you can do now is be safe" (how to get you ideas). Reed Hastings took a chance on himself and his company. "Now they had the idea of creating a website where it would be easy for people to buy and rent DVD's sitting at their homes. Hastings invested $2.5 million in order to get the business started in a big way" (successstory.com, n.d, para.1).
According to Loudenback (2015), "What started as a DVD-by-mail rental service has now spawned a slew of award-winning original television series, made available over 100 million hours of content, and virtually redefined what it means to watch, and create, TV in 2015" (para 2). The lecture was a guide to how a company can change its strategy to appeal to more customers in a more exciting way rather than trying to appear to the average buyer.
According to successstory (n.d), "The first scheme they offered was a seven-day DVD rental for $4 and an additional $2 for shipping. They also put new titles for sale giving an impressive 30% discount to attract customers. Their website provided users with movie reviews and automatic suggestions to prompt them to rent additional DVD" (para 3). Netflix is appealing because you can watch movies in the comfort of your own home. An individual can also take other peoples review into account when deciding on what movie to watch.
Discussion #3
Which of the four things suggested to create a culture that is compatible with change do you believe is the most important and why?
According to Basingame, there are four things suggested to create a culture that is compatible with change. Those four things are Making a strong case, establish the vision, sustain the change and anticipate maintenance.
I believe all the points are extremely important to a company and the change they would like to implement. I would say the most important aspect would be to establish the vision. According to the article, "Maurer's research indicates 71% of successful changes happened "when people understood the vision of the project." Stakeholders should see the long-term benefits of change" (Blasingame, 2013, para 8.).
Including people into the process of change allows people to fully grasp why there is a need for change. I think as humans, we are resistant to change. According to Weiss (2016), "Leaders need to be honest and authentic when communicating and repeating the vision and the change's end state" (section 2.6).
The author explained the importance of having a vision. How have your past leaders shared their vision for change with you?
My first encounter with change happened when I was an airman working in the equipment section. My supervision came to me and told they would be moving me to the inspection section because I transitioned into a non-commissioned officer role and need to hone my supervisory skills. At first, I was very reluctant and resistant because I was comfortable at my current job and I had all the necessary tool to do my job.
Weiss (2016) states, "Coaching individuals and teams can help overcome resistance and resentment to organizational change" (section 2.6). The vision they express was that this will help show progression in my career. It would also help me become more well rounded as a NCO and as a supply troop. Although this was not necessarily a change that affect the entire organization, it was vision and change that affected me.
With that change, I blossomed and I learned so much about myself and I gained experience that ultimately helped my unit. They could have just moved me into the section without explanation. I probably would have look at the situation in a negative light. I was grateful for the experience and grateful to know my leadership trusted me with young airmen and a whole section to command.
What could they have done differently to be more proactive to change?
I think the only thing they could have done differently was provide more tools and resources on training and job knowledge. I walked into a new section without any turnover (spin up). I had to rely on personal research to get the correct answers and I deeply relied on the team that was there before me.
The text states, "It is also helpful to provide information, education, and training to employees who need support if they are assigned new tasks using different technologies. Such support can alleviate a loss of confidence in those who feel overwhelmed" (Weiss, 2016, section 2.6).
Discussion #4
Read the article, "Are You Managing Change Or Leading It? Based on the information in the article, the author explains that change is inevitable. Which of the four things suggested to create a culture that is compatible with change do you believe is the most important and why?
The author explained the importance of having a vision. How have your past leaders shared their vision for change with you? What could they have done differently to be more proactive to change?
The most important step to create a culture that is compatible with change is "Sustain the changes". According to Blasingame (2013), "The primary reason for failure, Maurer found, was "inability to sustain the change." Sustaining change isn't a sprint; it's a marathon that must endure pressure from many sources and may be the greatest test of leadership."
While "establishing the vision" and "anticipate maintenance" are also extremely important in the change management process right up there with communication, there has to be an expectation and a process for continual flux. Change can be extremely simple and change can be extremely difficult not only on the organization but also on the employees. Leadership must be constantly monitoring how the change is affecting both and be willing to course correct when needed.
The last thing leadership wants to do is to cause damage to the organization, the employees, the culture, and the reputation and stability of the company. "Organizations that enjoy consistent success will make change an abiding element in their business model, rather than an intrusion to "the way we've always done things." They'll create a culture and environment where change can occur whenever necessary, without creating a casualty list." (Blasingame, 2013).
Persistence is a competency that needs to be practiced in the change management process. Leaders shouldn't just abandon the change when things get difficult but should be mindful of the consequences if they don't maintain of sustain through issues. By leading change instead of just managing it, an organization can be a driver instead of a follower which can lead to domination in their industry.