BUSINESS BASICS NUMBER 17

Duda Owner IONOS • March 16, 2016

Know where your industry is going. This is a business basic that fights company extinction. Knowing where your industry is going will tell you where your company should go. If you don’t know where your industry is going, then how can you expect to excel in it?

I once spoke with the owner of a typewriter shop that did not understand where the industry was going. The owner refused to recognize what was happening in the typewriter market as it collided with the PC world. Eventually, he went out of business. Instead of knowing where his industry was going and therefore knowing where his company should go, he blindly led his company into insolvency.

On the other hand, when you know where your industry is going, you can plan strategically for your company’s future. You want to position your company not just for what will make it successful today, but for what will ensure its success tomorrow. That demands a constant knowledge of where your industry is going.

So who would you rather be today? The typewriter salesperson or the person on the crest of the next wave in the PC world?


By James Meadows July 13, 2026
What every front desk professional should know about credit card surcharging
By James Meadows September 7, 2025
Is a college degree still worth the investment? It depends of the path you craft.
By James Meadows August 12, 2025
You need to give serious thought to taming the tiger before you are in its cage.
By James Meadows June 8, 2025
My transparent reflection about my five-year post-layoff experience, how I navigated it, learned through it, and identified some wisdom that might inspire others.
By James Meadows June 29, 2024
The earliest days of this series present fundamentally significant leadership content.
By James Meadows August 22, 2023
What we should expect from fidelity to science.
Honesty, honest,  honestly
By James Meadows August 9, 2023
We explore the overuse or inappropriate use of the words "honest," "honesty," and "honestly." Much of the overuse or inappropriate use of these words is in contexts that intrinsically message the audience that the speaker is not trustworthy. I call the overuse or inappropriate use of these words in this context HONESTY VALIDATORS because the speaker believes they validate the truth being spoken. We need a solution to this problem. My solution is to replace these honesty validators with CLARITY VALIDATORS. Instead of trying to be honest, try to be clear. Replacing "honest," "honesty," and "honestly," with "clear," "clarity," and "clearly," produces significantly more benefit to the speaker and to the audience.
By James Meadows August 7, 2023
It's the real thing alright!
By James Meadows May 30, 2023
Reflecting on 30 years as a PC user.
By James Meadows July 26, 2020
What the Boeing 737 Max crashes teach us about training, corporate culture, and communication.