Throughout my many brushes with economic theory, one concept has resonated with me more profoundly than others: creative destruction.
Initially coined by the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter, the term captures the continuous cycle of new ideas, products, and industries that emerge only to replace their predecessors, ultimately driving economic growth and renewal.
Transformations are necessary, and we all have tales of companies or products that we held close to our hearts only to watch them fade away because they couldn’t keep up with the pace of change.
However, when poorly managed, some transformations escalate to the level of generational trauma, a sentiment echoed by those grappling with Elon Musk’s radical make-over of Twitter.
How X Missed the Spot
The difference between visionaries and delusional leaders is one of outcomes.
While both types see what others don’t, only one is building towards a future that others are ultimately willing to join and put their money behind.
Elon Musk understands something that the leaders of Kodak, Nokia, Blackberry and MySpace failed to acknowledge: sometimes even the biggest fish in the pond needs to shake up the pond and push against the current, lest it gets tangled up in the net of complacency and obsolescence.
What he has failed to realize is that transformations are not solo-adventures. Instead they are shared journeys that must make sense to the travelling party, particularly when out on rough seas.
In fact, the reason why Twitter’s rebranding has generated such a strong negative reaction is that it is not building on a shared vision.
To be sure, a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, and X’s could have certainly taken the place of tweets had Jack Dorsey so decided in 2006. However, recasting the very verb with which an entire generation defines a part of their identity requires a compelling answer to ‘why’.
There are many ‘whys’ that could have made the cut. However, making Twitter into an ‘everything app’ has proven to be one that most users are simply not onboard with.
Making it Make Sense
Elon Musk’s ability to ignite curiosity had many anxiously excited to see what he would make of Twitter. Had he spent the time to accompany his transformation with a compelling narrative shared beyond his executive board, we would be drawing drastically different lessons from Twitter’s rebranding today.
For those keen to learn from Elon’s mistakes, here’s the key takeaway. Succeeding in large scale transformations requires building a widely shared sense of purpose. The bigger the change, the larger and more consistent the narrative tapestry of shared purpose must be.
While leaders are often better off making transformative decisions on their own, they are still on the hook for making the decisions make sense to everyone involved. By crafting narratives that resonate and inspire instead of confuse and befuddle, leaders can push their stakeholders to incredible heights, something which Elon Musk has succeeded handsomely with Tesla.
If only he had taken the time and effort to sell us on X as he did with Model X.
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