No. It definitely isn't. Yet it happened anyway. That's the American way. How else could you explain why Michael Bay is continuing to make massive amounts of money?
Bloat is everywhere. Bureaucracy, politics and an inability to collaborate lead to ridiculously expensive and unwieldy marketing programs. What happened to crisp, clear and effective solutions? Where is the message? For that matter, where is the creativity?
Companies everywhere suffer from this dilemma. You can only do so many things well. If you try and do to many things you will slowly (or rapidly) lose your edge. It's just a simple reality.
This phenomenon is known as "scope creep". Which is something that all companies (but especially start-ups) have to wrangle with. Scope creep is "the practice of trying to do to everything and stretching your focus beyond your ability to complete the tasks in front of you."¹
How can you avoid scope creep? Simple: Do what you do well. Discontinue what you don't. Rinse and repeat as many times as necessary. However, crushing this kind of creep can not and must not kill innovation. That's the problem that a lot of larger companies run into when they undergo the process of retrenching. They just nuke anything that isn't turning a profit without much attention to whether or not that program fits into the core goals of the company (it often does).
90% of business is timing (as is pulling random statistics out of your head that seem right) and your ability to hit the market in stride. If you can grow your business along with market demands, keep focused on your core mission and effectively innovate to meet both those goals? The only thing that stands in your way is an asteroid hitting earth or a Decepticon.
What steps do you recommend to avoid scope creep?
¹The credit for this definition goes to Jake Cacciapaglia and Cort Johnson of dartBoston.
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tagged as scope creep, scope of business, scope of influence, start up scope creep, taking on to much business, timing in business
