a secret plot to make big business followers instead of leaders

Every now and then I stop to actually read what corporate websites says. Today I did a couple of Enterprise Software sites to see what the leaders in this area are doing to their clients.

Note: Enterprise software is after all the backbone of most large corporations so I suspect the attitude of those backbone-suppliers will tell me a lot about the path big business is taking towards the future.

First off was SAP, and here are a few product-quotes:

"Adaptive Business Solutions"

That sound nice and should be good, or what?

Until I found this:

"Adapt quickly to market changes"

In other words, they champion an attitude of following. React and adapt to whatever the others are doing.
Well, no surprise that most of their customers are followers then.

What happened to act? You know, become a leader and all that.

"Best-of-breed functionality"

It might be me, but does that not smack of being the same, doing the same in the same way as everybody else? What happened to better? What about relentlessly becoming better, the best is always something of yesterday.  No future in yesterday. Duh.

"Designed for your business"

Ah, another designed-so-you're-equal to all your competitors. Follow, follow.

Popped over to Peoplesoft/Oracle and found more:

"Best-in-class applications"

Had to check the URL again, was I still at sap.com? Nope, this was Peoplesoft joining in the backwards-looking effort to make all and everybody equal.

More of the same, checking URL again when I found

"The world's most adaptable software"

a message strengthened by

"Respond quickly to unexpected changes in business conditions"

Maybe it's only me, but should it not translate to: The-world's-best-follower-software?

In short, great opportunities are open for those with an attitude of act instead of react and who wants to become better every day instead of remaining solely best for a day. Yesterday.

The field is open for the leaders, as always. Now go and lead.

Comments

[Philipp Schumann]

I think the bigger you are, the more protective you are about your resources and assets. The more protective you are, the more paranoid you are about disruption potential from outside. Thus the "follower" was born in the leader (from your description, the right word would be "explorer" BTW).

The same happens to humans in a sense. Older people tend to become more protective and "conservative" and less explorative and experimental compared to their past.

You might risk only ever serving young, eager start-ups if you insult the "followers" (protective, BUT established and money-loaded, AND quite possibly previous eager and experimental start-ups themselves). =)

[sig]

"If you're not radical as young then you have no heart, if you're not growing conservative when old, then you have no brain", eh? :-)

The point for me was that following equals not winning.

And if I risk insulting the not-winning, at least the losers have been filtered out, and who wants then anyway ;-)

Being polite at all times, never risk insulting would make out for a very grey product/result would it not? Nothing that could bring the world a step forward or what? Nah, don't want that...

And as I always say, "a truly good friend always risks wrath by telling the truth" :-)