There was a time when, much like Elon Musk a century later, Henry Ford was seen as the prophet of the future. Indeed Ford appeared to have a perspective on the future, and the trends guiding its direction, in the first half of his trail-blazing career.
The future Ford envisioned and that he helped create did indeed materialize … and then it kept on moving while Ford did not.
Which turn in the road did Ford miss?
He didn't miss the turn. In fact, his advisors (including his son Edsel), implored him to update Ford’s offering to the market. General Motors, guided by legendary automotive brand architect Alfred P. Sloan, introduced models “for every purpose and passion.”
Made complacent by his success, resentful by subscription to conspiracy theories and arrogant by the flattery lavished on him by corporate sycophants, Ford stubbornly refused to adapt, believing he understood better what people needed than they themselves needed.
What can we learn from Ford’s failure?
We can certainly learn to stay humble reminded of the limitations of our mortality.
More deeply, we can be reminded that we live in the context of time … a reality sometimes analogized as the current that moves rivers but could also be understood as an algorithm composed of both constant and variable factors.
Put simply, we live in a state of constant change.
Because the “algorithm” is composed of constants, we need to conserve what we have learned. In Ford’s case, he knew the broader market needed an automobile that was rugged enough to drive off-road (there were few paved roads then), easy to repair and accommodated a mass market budget.
But the algorithm also contains variable factors that Ford either refused to or was incapable of understanding … like a segment of the market might want a color other than black.
The lesson we can learn is that wisdom lies in conserving truth acquired while remaining vigilant and open to novel insights … insights that require updating our understanding of “reality.”
What about you … and what about your city?
Are you coasting seated comfortably on the laurel crowns of past success and prosperity resistant to the need for change, improvement and continued relevance?
Or (and equally pernicious), are you pressing for a dramatic overhaul in the name of needed progress but that either ignores or repudiates the past?
Change does not have to be a binary set of traumatic options. There is a third way … a way that honors the past while setting a course for the future.
