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Blowing Up Conventional Beliefs

Posted By: Randy GageDecember 3, 2014

Every industry has its sacred cows and accepted practices. These are based upon foundational beliefs, and often those beliefs are based upon premises that are no longer valid. (If they ever even were.)

Mobile apps won’t just change marketing, they will change everything. The reason these apps (and other new business models) can be so disruptive is because they’re often created by people who aren’t from the industries they’re disrupting.

There is a reason Amazon was started by Jeff Bezos and not anyone in the bookstore industry, and Uber was started by people who weren’t in the taxi industry. Because they were not in those industries, these pioneers hadn’t bought into all the limiting conventional beliefs possessed by most decision makers in the space.

I’m sure lots of people in the taxi industry thought about using GPS systems to route drivers to fares. But because they were stuck in the herd thinking of their industry, they probably threw out the idea as too expensive or not feasible. They were vested in their system of dispatchers, radios and because they had a monopoly, and felt no urgency to test other models. But the free market blew them up.

Human nature seems to have a default setting about innovation. Anything in existence when you were born (no matter how stunning of a quantum advancement it was), just seems ordinary and natural to you. Anything new developed when you’re in your teens and twenties is breathtaking and revolutionary and you’re excited to be a part of it. And anything developed after you’re 40 is irritating and evil, because it prevents you from going back to the way things were.

Bookstores thought people would never buy books online and record companies thought they could ban music downloads. But you can never turn back the clock.

I love a good bookstore as much as anyone, but I still order most of my books from Amazon. I actually still have the original Dark Side of the Moon and some other classic LP albums. But 99 percent of my music is on my iPhone.

This is not a cautionary tale of the taxi industry, the bookstore business or record companies…

It’s a wake up call for every industry. Taxi companies won’t beat back ride sharing apps because they provide great value to consumers and achieved immediate acceptance. Other industries won’t defeat disruption in their space because disruption is intrinsically pro-consumer. It only works if the marketplace accepts it, and the marketplace only accepts it if it is doing something better, faster or cheaper. Or all three.

If you’re in a business trying to restrict or outlaw an app or business model that threatens you, you’re already a dinosaur. You’d be better served to be working on developing a better app.

Market destruction is tough when you’re the collateral damage. But that’s the way free enterprise works, and free enterprise is the only way to keep an economy vibrant. It’s not about the destruction, but rather, the ultimate creation that comes from it.

- RG

Randy is the author of nine international bestsellers on success, including, Risky Is the New Safe. He’s currently on sabbatical, writing his next book, but posts occasionally here. If you find these postcards helpful, please share them.

47 comments on “Blowing Up Conventional Beliefs”

  1. RG.. I agree on all fronts. As part of the film/TV/theater production industry it's my contention that TRANSMEDIA is far more relevant since it immerses the audience into story and character far deeper along with allowing them to view it when and where they choose. People in various industries tend to pigeon hole themselves which is limiting. Mike Jones states when you write, you're a "Creative Storyteller' NOT a screen, play, TV or book writer. We must be true to ourselves and our purpose; for me it's about positively impacting a world audience through multi-platform storytelling that rattles cages while inspiring new thought. Entertainment with Purpose.

  2. Well stated Randy! In every industry they are either going to be part of the changes or die... I remember when I studied computer programming (Fortran IV) many decades ago prior to going into the Marines and thinking of the amazing IBM 360 computer... Heck, computer cards were the future... Keypunch operators had job security... Ummmm, not! That career is long gone... Programmers can be kids in grade school that would run rings around the programmers of the past... 
    Fast forward to today, even what we see as amazing will be outdated in a short time... Even computers as we know them will be different... New business models will be built... And this old guy in me will also adapt as I have in the way I train physically... Parkour anyone?

  3. We are living in some very interesting times. I look at the Barnes and Noble's and the media stores selling CD's and DVD's and I look at them as dinosaurs. Their days are numbered because in the shift in technology.
    You are seeing more and more grocery companies delivering food to customers who no longer go to the stores and this will end up being a model that will start to make stores get smaller or even close their doors.
    These shifts will start to put people out of work but it will also start people to thinking of ways to be of service in different ways in different markets. Think about how Amazon using drones to deliver product to our doorsteps will impact UPS?
    These are serious shifts in business that will impact many.
    Look at the cereal industry, Ready to Eat Cereal (RTEC) is on a decline based on new health studies that show most of this cereal is not nutritionally sound. This has major companies looking to reinvent themselves.
    It is interesting to say the least.
    As Always, Here's to Your LifetoSuccess,
    God Bless You,
    John Clark - http://www.lifetosuccess.com

  4. As usual....said from the head, full of wisdom and truth. Totally motivating and inspiring.
    Thanks Randy. This is why I follow you. You are ahead of the crowd and around the bend.
    To success and prosperity,
    James

  5. I openly embrace the new. I refuse to fall into the "I hate everything new" trap so many people fall into. Randy, for some people hating the new starts earlier, and for some people it never happens at all.
    I'm 33 now, and while sometimes I do feel old (it's in my head, and just a fear), I refuse to just give up and accept that I have to be out of touch, fat, fearful of change, and miserable at 40 the way so many people are.
    Why should I ever take advice on how to live my adult life from someone who chooses misery?
    While some of it is the aging process, a great deal of it is cultural beliefs. There are plenty of bad beliefs about young people too- young people are entitled, young people are lazy, young people think they know everything, etc.
    Believing there is an age where you don't get to try or like new things is a myth. 
    You are most certainly a lot more flexible mentally until the age of 25, because your body and your brain are still growing. However, the human mind is incredibly flexible and the body has incredible flexibility. 
    I am actually addicting to trying and learning new things. Sure, sometimes I am afraid of what I don't know and don't always like everything at first, but I am willing to give things a shot. 
    It's very clear that most of us can't count on that "good job" for life, and you especially need to be able to forge your own path even more today. Especially if you didn't get the same opportunities as someone else. 
    Education and experience do not guarantee you a career any more, and there is a huge belief (which is wrong) that not having an education or experience means you deserve poverty. I used to believe this.
    It isn't true. It's worthiness issues, which unfortunately many other people are eager to confirm.  
    Sometimes I feel anxious about it, but a lot of self-taught people have become successful in life. Even today under this tough conditions. 
    It is a matter of continuing to learn and do something. Learning to become great. Too many people are competing for " a good middle class job", and there just are not enough of them. Even if you have one, a computer program, robot, or someone in India will eventually end up doing it for you.
    Far too many experienced/educated people are struggling and working jobs which didn't require their education or experience because they have accepted less. They are told they must. 
    In a world where you can connect instantly with anyone and learn nearly anything, that is incredibly limiting.

  6. I remember you talked about this mobile app trend two years ago, and now it is even more true. Reading your post keeps me back in critical thinking. Thanks for the reminder.

  7. What a great example of critical thinking Sir Randy, thanks for the awe-inspiring lesson in what a person can do with their mind, (again)  .. this could be the first few pages in another chapter of Risky is The New Safe.
    So thought provoking. You are it seems, the quintessential critical thinker RG. I'd love to experience greater ability to "see" patterns of hard and soft trends..
    Thankyou!  Love and light Randy! Excellent. I really admire this!

  8. ThomasMrak You brought forth some good valid point of views Thomas. What I hear you saying is people often come from "lack consciousness" and have no clue about it, OR have misunderstood "abundance consciousness", yes?

  9. I got a degree in journalism 30 years ago... might as well wipe my ass with it now.. newspapers are almost dead, but I don't sit around crying about it like so many do.. I got a great idea for a wine/food web site and will pursue it like a mfer..

  10. Conventional beliefs say that when you reach a certain age that you're supposed to do this instead of that. The fact that I engage in Parkour at 63 years old defies conventional belief. Whether in one's physical fitness, in business and in life, going against the grain may get people yelling at you, it's up to each one of us to keep going forward despite....

  11. PeterGHorrill ThomasMrak Thank you Peter. 
    I see it as the sanctioning of victimhood. If you teach someone they are powerless and need a Father figure in the form of religion, God, government and so, then you own their mind and their body. 
    Now, some people are honestly just doing what they learned from their parents, Church, or school, or "what works", or just doing what other people are doing. 
    However, some people and groups intentionally hurt people so they do not know their own power. 
    You have the Power to Move the World with what you create. Sometimes you have to fight for it. 
    You're only a failure if you quit.

  12. PeterGHorrill ThomasMrak
    It's more about the creation of Victims. People or groups that abuse others what them to be fearful and afraid of Liberty and their own power. 
    Victims tend to not only hurt themselves, but hurt other people. When you truly value yourself you treat other people well and think of others until they prove otherwise, that they are decent people. 
    A Victim does not. A Victim views reality as unchangeable and unfair. As such, they "deserve" a certain lifestyle, and anyone who has a certain lifestyle is just "evil". If they can't have it, no one else should have it. They do not want to see other people escape misery. That is why nothing you do is ever right, and why you are "doomed" to fail and amount to nothing unless you do what they or people they follow tell you to. 
    There is an interest in safety, comfort and security. All change is bad. Certain things are always "safe" because many people do them. 
    The modern world is no longer "safe". You can't wait for someone to save you.
    The reality is while reality can be unfair, it usually can be changed. If you fail you can get up again. If there are barriers you can do things the conventional way, or you can toss convention out the window. 
    The choice is yours'. 
    People also buy into bad ideas accidentally. They are either popular ideas or they learned them from someone else without consciously thinking of whether they are true or not. 
    I may be "old", but I am rewriting a novel, making some electronic dance music, and exploring various ways of how I can apply my creativity to other things. 
    I may lack a lot of formal education, but I am well-read and well practiced in many different areas. 
    Some people will say because you lack a degree or a degree from a "good" school, you deserve to be poor and you will always be limited. I don't want to be a Doctor or a Lawyer or teach at a University. Nearly everything else can be done with a degree or not whether people say it can or not. 
    The only person who can truly limit me is myself, and dropouts and people who don't go do amazing things all the time. 
    They do them because they know that excellence is the only true path as there is a lot of competition for mediocrity.

  13. BobBurg Randy_Gage true. richardbranson with Virgin Atlantic iTunes PayPal SpaceX TeslaMotors too elonmusk the last 3 of those

  14. Excellent writing, and right on target, the future is in a constant flux, as is internet marketing, and as I see it, PC's are histroy, laytop sales dropping, and smart phones and tablets getting more powerful every day with new applications by the millions flooding the market.  Never underestimate new technologies ability to save us time and money.  CERACOAT-NANOTECH.com

  15. GM BobBurg & Randy_Gage Thx for the #Framing! How's Ur SiMBa (#SpiritMindBody) today? Is this why some folks don't SEE me? 😉

  16. Randy_Gage I love the feedback you're getting in the Reader Comments section. Your post really struck a chord, didn't it?! Way to go!

  17. ♥...I want to repeat, just how much I enjoy this #Framing! Chi of Love, Thank You Randy, for the gift of #ClarityAndFocus, it leaves me feeling #HopefulAndRelieved. 

    Hopeful that my intent of Communication Innovation, can go the way of Galileo & the helio-centrics, even if the Ptolemy's of the World (who's Shoulders we stand on) are unable to see that geo-centrism needed a makeover too) 😉

    Relieved, that when I share the idea that I'm a #HigherShadeOfBrown American of #AfricanAncestry with folks I imagined would be Excited to move away from labels that lead to separation & learned helplessness, that they want nothing to do with the idea, or helping me share it (or the Personal Development folks, who don't want to hear that Holistic Empathy is a Practice, Language, Action, & Need~PLAN, and that "abandoned, betrayed, disrespected, rejected" are thoughts masquerading as feelings, vs emotions)!

    So as my friend @MarWilliamson tells me, when I see her "Tony, it's our Light, not our darkness, that scares us the most"

    Love, SiMBa (#SpiritMindBody, with inspiration and abundance mixed in, aka Tony Scruggs)

  18. > It’s a wake up call for every industry.
    >...
    > It only works if the marketplace accepts it,
    > and the marketplace only accepts it if it is
    > doing something better, faster or cheaper.
    > Or all three.
    Oh yes! Even in this industry/marketplace...
    Video: The Big Belief Blowup
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wex4UhLTbDM&index=9&list=UUFeK8ZdHbCqAq3gekWs8aEQ
    Its destruction will indeed be very tough for
    those who are the collateral damage.
    And I fully agree it's...
    > not about the destruction, but rather, the ultimate
    > creation that comes from it.
    And in the process hopefully, at last, our species will
    evolve from human"kind" to HumanKind. 🙂

  19. Bingo! "Herd thinking!" It's true for me as well. When I came from bio industry to railway industry, they said I would never be a part of them 'cause I don't have "a railway state of mind". It was 5 years ago. Today some of my young colleagues from my department and I participate in corporate projects like "Young talents" or "The best innovative idea" every year. It doesn't matter what kind of thinking (or mind)  you have. The matter is you just HAVE it!

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  • 47 comments on “Blowing Up Conventional Beliefs”

    1. RG.. I agree on all fronts. As part of the film/TV/theater production industry it's my contention that TRANSMEDIA is far more relevant since it immerses the audience into story and character far deeper along with allowing them to view it when and where they choose. People in various industries tend to pigeon hole themselves which is limiting. Mike Jones states when you write, you're a "Creative Storyteller' NOT a screen, play, TV or book writer. We must be true to ourselves and our purpose; for me it's about positively impacting a world audience through multi-platform storytelling that rattles cages while inspiring new thought. Entertainment with Purpose.

    2. Well stated Randy! In every industry they are either going to be part of the changes or die... I remember when I studied computer programming (Fortran IV) many decades ago prior to going into the Marines and thinking of the amazing IBM 360 computer... Heck, computer cards were the future... Keypunch operators had job security... Ummmm, not! That career is long gone... Programmers can be kids in grade school that would run rings around the programmers of the past... 
      Fast forward to today, even what we see as amazing will be outdated in a short time... Even computers as we know them will be different... New business models will be built... And this old guy in me will also adapt as I have in the way I train physically... Parkour anyone?

    3. We are living in some very interesting times. I look at the Barnes and Noble's and the media stores selling CD's and DVD's and I look at them as dinosaurs. Their days are numbered because in the shift in technology.
      You are seeing more and more grocery companies delivering food to customers who no longer go to the stores and this will end up being a model that will start to make stores get smaller or even close their doors.
      These shifts will start to put people out of work but it will also start people to thinking of ways to be of service in different ways in different markets. Think about how Amazon using drones to deliver product to our doorsteps will impact UPS?
      These are serious shifts in business that will impact many.
      Look at the cereal industry, Ready to Eat Cereal (RTEC) is on a decline based on new health studies that show most of this cereal is not nutritionally sound. This has major companies looking to reinvent themselves.
      It is interesting to say the least.
      As Always, Here's to Your LifetoSuccess,
      God Bless You,
      John Clark - http://www.lifetosuccess.com

    4. As usual....said from the head, full of wisdom and truth. Totally motivating and inspiring.
      Thanks Randy. This is why I follow you. You are ahead of the crowd and around the bend.
      To success and prosperity,
      James

    5. I openly embrace the new. I refuse to fall into the "I hate everything new" trap so many people fall into. Randy, for some people hating the new starts earlier, and for some people it never happens at all.
      I'm 33 now, and while sometimes I do feel old (it's in my head, and just a fear), I refuse to just give up and accept that I have to be out of touch, fat, fearful of change, and miserable at 40 the way so many people are.
      Why should I ever take advice on how to live my adult life from someone who chooses misery?
      While some of it is the aging process, a great deal of it is cultural beliefs. There are plenty of bad beliefs about young people too- young people are entitled, young people are lazy, young people think they know everything, etc.
      Believing there is an age where you don't get to try or like new things is a myth. 
      You are most certainly a lot more flexible mentally until the age of 25, because your body and your brain are still growing. However, the human mind is incredibly flexible and the body has incredible flexibility. 
      I am actually addicting to trying and learning new things. Sure, sometimes I am afraid of what I don't know and don't always like everything at first, but I am willing to give things a shot. 
      It's very clear that most of us can't count on that "good job" for life, and you especially need to be able to forge your own path even more today. Especially if you didn't get the same opportunities as someone else. 
      Education and experience do not guarantee you a career any more, and there is a huge belief (which is wrong) that not having an education or experience means you deserve poverty. I used to believe this.
      It isn't true. It's worthiness issues, which unfortunately many other people are eager to confirm.  
      Sometimes I feel anxious about it, but a lot of self-taught people have become successful in life. Even today under this tough conditions. 
      It is a matter of continuing to learn and do something. Learning to become great. Too many people are competing for " a good middle class job", and there just are not enough of them. Even if you have one, a computer program, robot, or someone in India will eventually end up doing it for you.
      Far too many experienced/educated people are struggling and working jobs which didn't require their education or experience because they have accepted less. They are told they must. 
      In a world where you can connect instantly with anyone and learn nearly anything, that is incredibly limiting.

    6. I remember you talked about this mobile app trend two years ago, and now it is even more true. Reading your post keeps me back in critical thinking. Thanks for the reminder.

    7. What a great example of critical thinking Sir Randy, thanks for the awe-inspiring lesson in what a person can do with their mind, (again)  .. this could be the first few pages in another chapter of Risky is The New Safe.
      So thought provoking. You are it seems, the quintessential critical thinker RG. I'd love to experience greater ability to "see" patterns of hard and soft trends..
      Thankyou!  Love and light Randy! Excellent. I really admire this!

    8. ThomasMrak You brought forth some good valid point of views Thomas. What I hear you saying is people often come from "lack consciousness" and have no clue about it, OR have misunderstood "abundance consciousness", yes?

    9. I got a degree in journalism 30 years ago... might as well wipe my ass with it now.. newspapers are almost dead, but I don't sit around crying about it like so many do.. I got a great idea for a wine/food web site and will pursue it like a mfer..

    10. Conventional beliefs say that when you reach a certain age that you're supposed to do this instead of that. The fact that I engage in Parkour at 63 years old defies conventional belief. Whether in one's physical fitness, in business and in life, going against the grain may get people yelling at you, it's up to each one of us to keep going forward despite....

    11. PeterGHorrill ThomasMrak Thank you Peter. 
      I see it as the sanctioning of victimhood. If you teach someone they are powerless and need a Father figure in the form of religion, God, government and so, then you own their mind and their body. 
      Now, some people are honestly just doing what they learned from their parents, Church, or school, or "what works", or just doing what other people are doing. 
      However, some people and groups intentionally hurt people so they do not know their own power. 
      You have the Power to Move the World with what you create. Sometimes you have to fight for it. 
      You're only a failure if you quit.

    12. PeterGHorrill ThomasMrak
      It's more about the creation of Victims. People or groups that abuse others what them to be fearful and afraid of Liberty and their own power. 
      Victims tend to not only hurt themselves, but hurt other people. When you truly value yourself you treat other people well and think of others until they prove otherwise, that they are decent people. 
      A Victim does not. A Victim views reality as unchangeable and unfair. As such, they "deserve" a certain lifestyle, and anyone who has a certain lifestyle is just "evil". If they can't have it, no one else should have it. They do not want to see other people escape misery. That is why nothing you do is ever right, and why you are "doomed" to fail and amount to nothing unless you do what they or people they follow tell you to. 
      There is an interest in safety, comfort and security. All change is bad. Certain things are always "safe" because many people do them. 
      The modern world is no longer "safe". You can't wait for someone to save you.
      The reality is while reality can be unfair, it usually can be changed. If you fail you can get up again. If there are barriers you can do things the conventional way, or you can toss convention out the window. 
      The choice is yours'. 
      People also buy into bad ideas accidentally. They are either popular ideas or they learned them from someone else without consciously thinking of whether they are true or not. 
      I may be "old", but I am rewriting a novel, making some electronic dance music, and exploring various ways of how I can apply my creativity to other things. 
      I may lack a lot of formal education, but I am well-read and well practiced in many different areas. 
      Some people will say because you lack a degree or a degree from a "good" school, you deserve to be poor and you will always be limited. I don't want to be a Doctor or a Lawyer or teach at a University. Nearly everything else can be done with a degree or not whether people say it can or not. 
      The only person who can truly limit me is myself, and dropouts and people who don't go do amazing things all the time. 
      They do them because they know that excellence is the only true path as there is a lot of competition for mediocrity.

    13. BobBurg Randy_Gage true. richardbranson with Virgin Atlantic iTunes PayPal SpaceX TeslaMotors too elonmusk the last 3 of those

    14. Excellent writing, and right on target, the future is in a constant flux, as is internet marketing, and as I see it, PC's are histroy, laytop sales dropping, and smart phones and tablets getting more powerful every day with new applications by the millions flooding the market.  Never underestimate new technologies ability to save us time and money.  CERACOAT-NANOTECH.com

    15. GM BobBurg & Randy_Gage Thx for the #Framing! How's Ur SiMBa (#SpiritMindBody) today? Is this why some folks don't SEE me? 😉

    16. Randy_Gage I love the feedback you're getting in the Reader Comments section. Your post really struck a chord, didn't it?! Way to go!

    17. ♥...I want to repeat, just how much I enjoy this #Framing! Chi of Love, Thank You Randy, for the gift of #ClarityAndFocus, it leaves me feeling #HopefulAndRelieved. 

      Hopeful that my intent of Communication Innovation, can go the way of Galileo & the helio-centrics, even if the Ptolemy's of the World (who's Shoulders we stand on) are unable to see that geo-centrism needed a makeover too) 😉

      Relieved, that when I share the idea that I'm a #HigherShadeOfBrown American of #AfricanAncestry with folks I imagined would be Excited to move away from labels that lead to separation & learned helplessness, that they want nothing to do with the idea, or helping me share it (or the Personal Development folks, who don't want to hear that Holistic Empathy is a Practice, Language, Action, & Need~PLAN, and that "abandoned, betrayed, disrespected, rejected" are thoughts masquerading as feelings, vs emotions)!

      So as my friend @MarWilliamson tells me, when I see her "Tony, it's our Light, not our darkness, that scares us the most"

      Love, SiMBa (#SpiritMindBody, with inspiration and abundance mixed in, aka Tony Scruggs)

    18. > It’s a wake up call for every industry.
      >...
      > It only works if the marketplace accepts it,
      > and the marketplace only accepts it if it is
      > doing something better, faster or cheaper.
      > Or all three.
      Oh yes! Even in this industry/marketplace...
      Video: The Big Belief Blowup
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wex4UhLTbDM&index=9&list=UUFeK8ZdHbCqAq3gekWs8aEQ
      Its destruction will indeed be very tough for
      those who are the collateral damage.
      And I fully agree it's...
      > not about the destruction, but rather, the ultimate
      > creation that comes from it.
      And in the process hopefully, at last, our species will
      evolve from human"kind" to HumanKind. 🙂

    19. Bingo! "Herd thinking!" It's true for me as well. When I came from bio industry to railway industry, they said I would never be a part of them 'cause I don't have "a railway state of mind". It was 5 years ago. Today some of my young colleagues from my department and I participate in corporate projects like "Young talents" or "The best innovative idea" every year. It doesn't matter what kind of thinking (or mind)  you have. The matter is you just HAVE it!

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    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


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