It’s been a very busy period since the beginning of the MBA program and, I may have underestimated the amount of time the program would require of me. The two weeks residency session - in Cornell and Queens- was amazing (and very rigorous). I met half of the entire class and, my team. The professors are great and, have the ability to engage a class over a 6-8 hr period. I’m back in Kingston and commuting almost every weekend to Toronto/Markham for my classes - a 3 hr drive from where I live. Crazy, isn't it?
We had our accounting final exam this past Sunday (yes, a Sunday!), and it felt strange writing an exam in a university setting after a hiatus from it. Good news is that I was able to write the exam in Kingston. Accounting has never been one of my favourite subjects but John did an amazing job in helping me understand accounting (for the first time in my life)! Finance exam is next and Business Decision model is around the corner! Anyways, enough of school and back to Innovation.
I've been reading various synopsis of what may happen to Blackberry. It's strange that a company that once had a major share of the market is now struggling for survival. Even-though I want to be optimistic that BB is still a going concern, I must confess that the outlook for them is dim and the end to a fairy Canadian tale may be imminent. It's another bitter lesson in Innovation, underlining the importance of continuously assess/anticipate your customers' ever changing needs and responding quickly to them. It's also a lesson in humility: to never think that you are too big to fail and respect your competitors. As a Canadian, I really hope that they can turn things around; it's looking like they are in line to become the next Kodak, Nortel, Blockbuster.
In an era of unprecedented change, business complexities, increased consumer literacy, advanced technological platform and, accelerated delivery of new ideas, the market is very unforgiving to companies that are slow in delivering innovative solutions that meet customers' need!
Patrick
