Success:

A Breeding Ground
for Complacency?
John P. Kotter
•Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces
smart people into thinking they can't
lose.
•Great accomplishments cause
individuals and organizations to
become comfortable with their way of
doing things
•Businesses turn static. Workers turn
their focus inward.
 The Mystery
•Who would have thought 10 years ago
that Apple would be worth more than
Microsoft and Intel combined
•So how did Apple do it?
• How did a brand that catered strictly
to designers move from a niche brand
to a global powerhouse?
The Newton Crest: 1976-1976
The Rainbow Logo: 1976-1998
The Monochrome Logo:
1998 – Present

The Apple
Brand Just
Keeps
Growing
Three things to
consider
 Innovation
• Launch innovative products that meet the
needs of changing consumer lifestyles (or
become catalysts for changing consumer
lifestyles)
• Bill Gates said he envisioned a day when
everyone would have a computer on their
desks? That’s exactly the kind of thinking
Apple has done over the past decade
 Complacency
• Microsoft succeeded, but got complacent —
a common trap for the market leader and
pioneer.
• 1998 Interview ‘What I can’t figure out is why
[Steve Jobs] is even trying [to be the CEO of
Apple]?’ Gates said. ‘He knows he can’t
win.’”
 Change
• Consumers a decade ago were very different from
consumers today
• Microsoft made the mistake of thinking what they’d
been doing would continue to work for years to
come.
• Apple looked for ways to change products, to
change markets, to change consumers, and to
change the game.
 Determine whether complacency has set in

• Are team conversations inwardly focused,

and not about new markets, emerging
technologies or potential competitors?
• Are past failures discussed only to stall
new initiatives, rather than as learning
experiences?
 Determine whether complacency has set in

• Do important meetings end with no

decisions about what needs to happen
immediately?
• Do workers regularly blame others for
problems, as opposed to taking
responsibility and changing behavior?
 The Challenge . . .

Compare
Compete
Excel
 As urgency takes hold,
complacency vanishes.
 For the organization to be on the
path to true success, they should
be able to adapt, change, and to
continually seize big
opportunities.
For the opportunity to share,