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Five Steps to Failure
Read the fictional scenario and then address the questions.
Scenario (fictional):
eTablet was founded by Gregor Stavinslov in 2008 while at MIT in Boston, Massachusetts. Gregor was a highly skilled, disciplined professional with superior computer skills and knowledge, besides knowing everyone in Silicon Valley. Because he knew everyone and was highly respected for his vast knowledge, when he created the eTablet, he had no problem getting initial investors. The tablet combined the best voice recognition software in the industry with an easily held tablet that adjusted in size to the person’s hand.
Gregor worked tirelessly with his founding team of four in pursuit of market share with excellent results. People were lining up to join his company and so it was not difficult at the start. Gregor got the company steaming along and the media were quick to take note. Before he knew it, Gregor was being interviewed on all the news shows, constantly being interviewed by magazines and newspapers, and he began to neglect to spend time at his company. He began pushing the executives to get more investors as he was going to expand operations across the globe.
One or two of his original co-founders felt this was not the time to look for additional investment or to expand, but to consolidate and inspire the employees through vision. Gregor felt he was on a roll and his success was guaranteed. He received several calls over the next few months from his financial director and production and marketing directors, informing him of a lack of direction to inspire the employees towards better products. The human resources consultant called to ask him what could be wrong since twenty employees walked out the door last month. Gregor said that it must be the economy, that needed those employees anyway, and that there were plenty more out there who wanted to work for him!
Soon investors started putting pressure on him to show greater profits and industry analysts were calling him asking for an explanation of some recent lackluster results. Gregor, in turn, changed his approach when communicating with his managers and executive team. Instead of asking what new innovations were in development, he was now demanding perfection in terms of the existing product, saying, “There is just no room for error! We need to assure our investors of the quality product we are putting out! Our products should be better than any other computer company, never mind tablet makers out there! If someone is making a mistake on the line, I want them fired immediately. I did not create a brilliant success only to have some half-wit ruin the results!”
As a result, the managers started putting extreme pressure on all of the employees for perfection. This resulted in no new products being developed because everyone was afraid to make a mistake. Gregor finally realized something was wrong when a major investor pulled out. Gregor decided to purchase a new internet translation company thinking it would put more “zing” into the company’s perception and its products. Unfortunately, this effort was not successful. Soon other investors looked for the exit as well, and Gregor spent the next several months wondering what happened.
Discuss why the company failed according to your reading in Chapter 19.
At what level of performance was Gregor (see page 511)?
What part of Collins’ five-stage process of failure did eTablet and the founder experience?
What personal attributes of the founder contributed to the company’s decline?
What would you have done as Gregor to get the company on the right path to success?