You’ve nailed your Core Focus. Your leadership team is aligned. You’re saying “no” to shiny stuff that doesn’t fit. You’re building a great company by staying disciplined.
But here’s what keeps smart leaders up at night: What if our discipline becomes our downfall? What if we become so focused that we miss the next big shift, like Kodak did with digital photography?
This isn’t just academic hand-wringing. It’s a real trap that has taken down giants. The good news? You can stay focused AND avoid disruption. Here’s how.
The Kodak Lesson: When Focus Becomes Blindness
Kodak didn’t fail because it lacked focus. It failed because they confused their delivery mechanism (film) with their true purpose (preserving memories). They were disciplined about the wrong thing.
Their purpose/cause/passion was helping people preserve memories. Their niche should have evolved from “film” to “memory preservation solutions.” But they clung to film like it was their identity.
Here’s the brutal truth: Your niche can and should evolve. Your purpose/cause/passion rarely does.
Related Reading: Does Your Company Have a Core Focus?
Focus on What Won’t Change
Jeff Bezos built Amazon by focusing not on what might change, but on what will stay the same. He often says that people frequently ask him what will change in the next ten years, but almost never ask what won’t change. He believes the second question is more important because you can build a business strategy around things that are stable over time.
For Amazon, customers will always want lower prices, faster delivery, and more selection. These desires won’t change in ten years. So Amazon invests heavily in fulfilling these eternal customer needs.
Your purpose/cause/passion works the same way. It taps into unchanging human needs. Your niche is simply your current method for meeting those needs.
The Three Question Reality Check
Every quarter, ask these three questions in your leadership team meeting:
1. “What business are we really in?”
Not the product you sell or service you deliver, but the fundamental problem you solve or need you fulfill. Kodak thought they were in the film business. They were actually in the memory business.
Write your answer. Now write it again at a higher level. Keep going until you hit bedrock: the unchanging human need you serve.
2. “If our current niche disappeared tomorrow, how would we fulfill our purpose?”
This isn’t pessimistic; it’s strategic. Force your team to separate HOW you deliver value from WHY you exist. If regulation, technology, or competition eliminated your current approach, what would you do?
The answer reveals whether you truly understand your Core Focus or if you’re just attached to your current business model.
3. “What are our customers really buying from us?”
They’re not buying your product or service. They’re buying an outcome, a feeling, or a solution to a deeper problem.
Customers didn’t buy Kodak film. They bought the ability to capture and share moments. When phones made that easier, faster, and cheaper, film became irrelevant.
The Discipline/Innovation Balance
Great companies don’t chase every opportunity. They pursue the RIGHT opportunities. Here’s your filter:
Say YES when an opportunity:
- Advances your purpose/cause/passion
- Serves your target market better
- Leverages your unique capabilities
- Could eventually replace or enhance your current niche
Say NO when an opportunity:
- Only looks profitable
- Takes you away from your purpose
- Requires capabilities you can’t develop
- Serves a completely different market
Your Quarterly Vision/Traction Organizer Review Questions
Add these questions to your Vision/Traction Organizer review during your quarterly planning session:
- Customer Behavior Changes: How are your customers’ habits shifting?
- Technology Enablers: What new technology could help us serve our purpose better?
- Competitive Disruption: Who’s serving our purpose in a radically different way?
- Adjacent Possibilities: What related problems could we solve for our current customers?
Don’t study these to chase trends. Study them to spot better ways to fulfill your purpose.
The Implementation Plan
This Quarter:
- Schedule 90 minutes with your leadership team
- Answer the Three Reality Check Questions above
- Add the four questions above to your standard Vision/Traction Organizer quarterly review
- Identify one experiment that could enhance how you deliver on your purpose
Every Quarter After (During Vision/Traction Organizer Review):
- Review your four innovation questions (15 minutes)
- Ask: “Is our niche still the best way to fulfill our purpose?” (15 minutes)
- Decide: Stay the course or run another experiment (10 minutes)
The Bottom Line
Kodak’s mistake wasn’t being too focused. It was focusing on the wrong thing. They protected their business model instead of their purpose.
Your Core Focus isn’t a cage; it’s a compass. Your purpose/cause/passion points true north. Your niche is simply your current vehicle for getting there.
Stay disciplined about your purpose. Stay flexible about your niche. That’s how you build a company that’s both focused AND adaptable.
Remember: The companies that last don’t predict the future. They stay so connected to their purpose and their customers that they evolve naturally when the world changes.
Your Core Focus isn’t about limiting possibilities. It’s about pursuing the RIGHT possibilities with everything you’ve got.
Now go back to your Core Focus. Look at your purpose/cause/passion. That’s your north star. Everything else, including your niche, is just tactics.
Stay focused. Stay curious. Stay relevant.
That’s how you build something truly great.
Want help applying this in your business? Connect with an EOS Implementer to stay focused, adaptable, and always aligned with your purpose.
