A Case Study In Corporate Fear
"A Case Study in Corporate Fear" deconstructs how fear transforms successful companies into corporate casualties. Each episode forensically examines a different business failure, revealing how fear infiltrates decision-making and sabotages success. From Kodak's digital denial to Blockbuster's streaming stumble, we analyze the patterns of fear that destroy companies and careers. Join host Taras Wayner as we turn fear into your greatest teacher, helping you recognize and overcome the paralysis of professional fear. Whether you're a CEO or a rising professional, this podcast delivers actionable insights to help you lead with courage and learn how others failed so you never do. Visit fear-incorporated.com for additional resources and training opportunities.
A Case Study In Corporate Fear
Blackberry - The Tyranny of Success
How did BlackBerry – the company that revolutionized mobile communication with always-on email and iconic keyboards – collapse from 50% market share to irrelevance in a decade? In this episode, I examine how fear transformed smart executives into prisoners of their past success, rendering them unable to evolve even as customers lined up for iPhones.
Timeline:
· 1999: Research In Motion introduces the first BlackBerry device
· 2006: BlackBerry reaches 50% U.S. smartphone market share
· 2007: Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone; BlackBerry executives dismiss it
· 2009: BlackBerry rejects making BBM available on other platforms
· 2010: BlackBerry Storm launches to disastrous reviews
· 2011: BlackBerry service outage leaves millions without email for three days
· 2012: Market value falls 95% from 2008 peak
· 2016: BlackBerry stops making phones entirely
Key Points:
· BlackBerry dominated with always-on email and a physical keyboard
· Verizon offered $100 million to develop a touchscreen BlackBerry two years before the iPhone
· Internal fear of cannibalizing keyboard devices led executives to reject the opportunity
· BlackBerry had five major innovation projects worth $40 billion killed due to cannibalization fears
· Company research repeatedly showed a consumer shift toward touchscreens, but was dismissed
· The Storm development involved 17 project managers with veto power, creating a design disaster
· BlackBerry's centralized security infrastructure became a critical vulnerability during outages
Quotes:
· "It's OK—we'll be fine."—Jim Balsillie after iPhone unveiling
· "We weren't just afraid of change—we were afraid of becoming unrecognizable to ourselves."—Larry Conlee, former COO
· "We came to BlackBerry with a $100 million development deal to create a fully touchscreen device... It was surreal watching a company choose slow death over reinvention."—John Stratton, former Verizon executive
· "When I was at Apple, we studied BlackBerry closely. We knew their Achilles' heel wasn't technology—it was psychology."—Jason Murrow, former Apple executive
Further Reading:
· Visit fear-incorporated.com for more case studies and resources
· "Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry"
· BlackBerry's 2011 global service outage and market impact
· The "Bring Your Own Device" movement that accelerated BlackBerry's decline
Connect with Taras:
· Website: fear-incorporated.com
· LinkedIn: taraswayner
· Instagram: @fear_incorporated
· Email: fear@fear-incorporated.com