The Cost of Uniqueness, Part 2
In last week’s blog, I explored Southwest Airlines’ recent decision to change many of its pioneering practices. Whatever financial benefits may accrue from this decision, the ultimate cost will be it’s uniqueness. As one writer opined, Southwest is sacrificing “long term brand value and customer loyalty for short-term profit.” I do not think it will prove to be a wise decision.
It is never a wise decision to change a successful recipe. Perhaps one of the best examples of this is the decision that Coca-Cola made to introduce “New Coke” in 1985. Never mind that the “Old coke” had been selling for more than a century; never mind that the “Old Coke” was being sold to over 2 billion people in more than 200 countries, and never mind that the “Old Coke” was a financial behemoth. There will always be highly educated fools who don’t know how to leave well enough alone. Less than 3 months after introducing the “new Coke,” it was laid to rest, never to be heard from again-except as a warning of what not to do in business school case-studies. This episode is a reminder that it is never a wise decision to change a successful recipe.
I don’t know if Angelo Dundee ever drank Coca-Cola. But I do know that he learned from somewhere that it is never a wise decision to change a successful recipe. Angelo Dundee was the legendary trainer of the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. Dundee and Ali (then Cassius Clay) were introduced shortly after Ali’s unsuccessful training stint with Archie Moore. Although Archie Moore had been the heavyweight champion for more than a decade, Ali was dissatisfied with his training methods and left his training camp after only two months. Later, Ali would complain that he objected to Moore’ s training methods because he tried to change his style. Ali was an unconventional boxer who fought with his face unprotected. This was a professional no-no—and Moore tried to correct it, much to Ali’s chagrin. When asked why he and Ali worked together so well for so long, Dundee’s reply was simply: “I never tried to change him.” This anecdote is a reminder that is never a wise decision to change a succcesful recipe.
I know that Jesse’s son never had a Coca-Cola or heard of Muhammad Ali. But he too knew that it is never a wise decision to change a successful recipe. This is, in essence, what he had to tell a King who tried to change his recipe for fighting. When David agreed to fight Goliath, Saul at first disagreed. Later, he agreed. Then he attempted to adorn David in his armor. 1 Samuel 17:38-40 describes the scene:
Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before. “I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again. He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.
David may have only been armed with a “shepherd’s staff and sling.” But it was his “shepherd’s staff a sling.” It was the same shepherd’s staff and sling that he had previously employed to kill both a lion and bear. It was the same shepherd’s staff and sling with which he had experienced success. David had a resume of winning. David had a formula for winning. David had a recipe. And it is not a wise decision to change a successful recipe.
What principles then, can we deduce from the foregoing examples, about how to maintain our uniqueness? Here are six of them. They are not ranked in order of importance. But each of them should be written in our hearts and carried in our heads:
Study your past victories. Figure out why and how you won.
If something works, stick with it.
Your destiny is related to your difference. (Rudolph was the only reindeer with red nose. That’s why he got to guide Santa’s sleigh)
Don’t ever let someone who has never won a battle teach you how to fight.
If you try something and it does not work, recognize the error and correct it immediately.
What works for someone else may not work for you—cuz you ain’t them.
Rabbi Zuysa once said that when he gets to heaven, God is not going to ask him why he was not Moses. God is going to ask him why he was not Zuysa.
You can’t lose being yourself.
But what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his own soul?