Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Businessman:
The phrase, “We’ve always done it that way,” is anathema in
business. It has been the death knell of all too many enterprises,
making them late to embrace needed innovations or new
opportunities. They blindly cling to the past while losing market
share, customers, capital, and jobs. Remember when Polaroid was
synonymous for photograph?
[28]
Not so much anymore, huh? We
must constantly guard against becoming dinosaurs like that at all
costs, striving to keep the bureaucracy in check such that we can
continuously improve our processes, tools, technology, and talent. In
this fashion we will have a real shot at creating products and
services that will remain desirable and affordable for our customers.
This means being willing to let go of the past to embrace the future.
It can be scary, but it’s also imperative.

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For example, we all know that Thomas Edison invented the first
device ever made for recording and playing back the human voice in
1877. His inventions included both the Dictaphone, which was
extensively used in business, and the phonograph, which was used
by music lovers all around the world. He also founded the world’s
first record company, Edison Records, an accomplishment that
eventually led to the creation of the modern music industry. But,
sadly, that invention didn’t work out so well for him because Edison
Records got left behind... The inflection point came during World War
I when the raw materials they needed to manufacture his company’s
secret wax recipe became scarce. They failed to make the jump from
wax cylinders to “needle-cut” records, even though the technology
was another Edison Labs invention. This eventually drove them out
of business and the company closed its doors in 1929.
Edison Records’ experience is by no means unique, oftentimes early
inventors lose out to followers because they feel beholden to their
discovery and cannot adapt fast enough. If you’re old enough you
undoubtedly remember Commodore Computers. They were shipping
two million units a year during the mid-1980s, a roughly 50% share
of the total personal computer market, yet they were bankrupt a
decade later. By contrast Apple, one of Commodore’s chief
competitors from that era, is still going strong today. Why? In large