“If this thing sells, I’ll cut my sa…!”

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At a certain point in my career, many years ago, I was hired by one of the largest Brazilian companies in its segment to teach them how to make digital products. The proposal was great and the challenge was stimulating: the company had grown with a well-oiled business over decades, being highly respected in the market. They just didn’t know how to navigate the world of bytes.

Duly sworn in and full of energy, a few days later I participated in my first summit meeting. To my astonishment, I heard from the commercial director a comment about my future product: “if this thing sells, I’ll cut my ass!”

I confess that I was stunned by so much business sincerity, especially from someone who, strictly speaking, would be precisely responsible for such a sale. Why was that man showing such visceral resistance to something he had never seen and which, by all indications, could represent the future of the company?

For days, I pondered whether my eventual success would threaten the subject’s reproductive capacity. That was when I understood that what I was doing placed a huge risk on traditional product processes, largely dominated by all those teams.

It sold like hotcakes and the aforementioned director just needed to keep the wood burning in the oven to guarantee his fat bonus at the end of the year. My presence there meant, on the other hand, that everyone would have to leave their comfort zone and embrace the unknown.

After more than a year of work by my multidisciplinary team with dozens of people, we launched the product. And to my disbelief, sales weren’t happening! Had that man anticipated this failure in such a decisive way?

That’s when I realized that the sales team sold the digital product as if it were traditional. Now, even though the first could be considered the evolution of the second, it embedded different characteristics and values ​​for a different audience.

The sale couldn’t be the same! We then made the necessary changes to the process and –voilà– they started to happen.

So I was hoping to get the guy in Secret Santa at the end of the year. I had already chosen the gift, which can be seen in the photo that illustrates this article.

Fear of the unknown is one of the main factors that prevent companies from evolving, potentially putting them out of the market. Perhaps the most emblematic example is that of Kodak, which almost went bankrupt for not investing in a revolutionary product that it invented itself: digital photography. Its directors preferred to guarantee their bonuses, which came from the sales of photographic films. Result: after a few years, they became extinct like the dinosaurs!

Innovation has always been necessary. Now, in an increasingly digital environment with very strong competition, it has become critical.

The good news is that technology is increasingly accessible, whether due to its ease of use or the costs involved. And it is available to everyone who is willing to make the necessary moves.

Managers just need to learn to take risks intelligently. Standing still is no longer an option!

To better understand the digital transformation process and how technology is at the heart of it, I invite you to watch the video from my Digital Culture Pill this week.

Talk to me: Are you looking for media training or social media training? Do you need help writing posts and articles or recording amazing videos to make your career or business look good on social media? Send me a message and let’s chat! Come learn from me how to build your reputation!