In his wonderful book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the battle for the soda pop market during the 1980’s between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. In a nutshell, Pepsi did blind taste tests and asked consumers whether they preferred Pepsi or Coca-Cola, and the results were overwhelmingly in Pepsi’s favor. When Coca-Cola heard the news, they freaked out. The end was near, it was inevitable. They were losing their share of the market and Pepsi was taking over.
How did Coca-Cola respond? By changing its classic formula. After developing “New Coke”, they tested it with consumers and were satisfied with the results. Feeling that they’d found their solution to their Pepsi problem, the company decided to push New Coke to the masses. Their tests and research proved that they were ready to regain their position as the undisputed leader in the soda industry.
But a funny thing happened when New Coke hit the market. People freaked out. They hated the change. They wanted their old Coke back. I didn’t get to see these freakouts personally, but I imagine that it all went something like this. In order to calm everyone down and restore order to the chaos, Coca-Cola went back to their old formula, giving people the “Classic Coke” that they’d fallen in love with in the past.
Now, you might be saying: Jake, that’s a great story, but what does that have to do with anything? Well, let’s think about this for a second. Pepsi had administered these test and had data and research that showed that they were going to overtake Coca-Cola as #1 in the soda market. Coca-Cola changed their formula, and they had data and research that concluded that their new formula was going to get them back on top. But that blew up in their faces. So they went back with the original formula – and guess what – they kept their spot as #1.
By doing nothing different, Coca-Cola maintained its success. What does this tell us?
Sometimes you can’t rely only on data. Sometimes you have to go with your gut and see that your ideas and dreams are executed.
I’m sure there was a time when research would have shown that Google’s culture could not succeed in corporate America. Research and data did say that Raising Cane’s, a fast food restaurant that serves only chicken fingers, could not succeed. I’m sure you can think of other businesses that defied the odds and conventional wisdom and went on to be the envy of the business world. And those people who create such businesses – you know what we call them? Entrepreneurs.
So stop being so damn analytical. Defy the data; take a chance every once in a while.
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