First, let’s look at Ken.
Now, let’s compare Joe.
Did you notice something else, though?
Who’s more tech-savvy? Joe, or Ken?
Who’s leading his company in innovation?
Who’s sitting on the sidelines, worrying?
The truth is, Ken and Joe aren’t real people. Spacely Sprockets and Cogswell Cogs aren’t real companies.
The warehouse is based on a real warehouse team that dramatically improved their inventory process by looking for ways to make small improvements over time.
The point of this little fable is to demonstrate the importance of mindset for a leader who wants to improve the business, especially when complex software systems are involved.
You probably recognized bits of Ken and bits of Joe in yourself.
You probably recognized bits of Spacely Sprockets and Cogswell Cogs in your own company.
You might think this is the part of the essay where I start beating up on Ken.
But no, that’s not the point at all.
Ken’s fears are common, and they’re warranted. (Joe has the same concerns.)
According to decades of research by the Standish Group, 77% of software projects fail: late, over budget, canceled, or complete disaster.
Entire companies have gone under because of software projects gone bad.
(If you want a good horror story to tell around the campfire, search for "Knight Capital bug". Warning: it may give you nightmares!)
According to a 2024 study by Gartner, the majority of all companies (68% of midsize, 57% of small businesses) regret a software purchase in the past 12 to 18 months.
And yet the opportunity is still there. The same study showed that more than 6 in 10 of midsize and small enterprises planned to spend more on software in 2024 than in 2023.
Venture capitalist and entrepreneur Marc Andreessen has said that “software is eating the world”. There’s no escaping it, and it’s irreversibly changing the business landscape.
The question is, what are you going to do about it when you inevitably find yourself in need of a software solution to a business problem?
Will you accept responsibility for making your own boat go faster?