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Thursday, June 9, 2011

An Object-Lesson in How to Stifle Innovation

Read this: How Ma Bell Shelved the Future for 60 Years.
AT&T firmly believed that the answering machine, and its magnetic tapes, would lead the public to abandon the telephone.
How many good ideas are set aside by managers who simply don't have a clue what users actually want?

How many great IT projects are rejected because of this kind of delusional paranoia?
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1 comment:

  1. Robert LucenteJune 11, 2011 at 12:20 PM

    Its not just AT&T and the "old guard". Most humans ASSUME linear progression and can't imagine discontinuities. The latest craze is the phrase "black swans". Lots of talk but how many people actually DO anything about it. Even "people in the know" screw this up. Check out "Bill Gates Flabbergasted by Gmail By Morgan"

    http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/05/31/bill-gates-flabbergasted-by-gmail.aspx

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