Apr 15, 2021
In the very early 1900s, when Henry Ford first started manufacturing automobiles, it didn't make much of an impact. Why? Because only a very few early adaptors were interested. Everyone knew horses would be around forever. And there would always be saddles, and there would always be buggy whips. And there was this weird new thing that made lots of noise and was dirty and its exhaust called the car. So a few early adaptors were interested. And that was the early adopter phase.
And then the second phase is fascinating. It is called unrealistic expectations, where all of a sudden, enough people say, Oh, my gosh, cars, or can I take over? My gosh, cars don't get sick, like horses, and cars don't get tired. And cars don't need to be fed all the time. Oh, my gosh, this is gonna be amazing. And suddenly, lots of car manufacturers get created, and all of a sudden start producing their own brand of cars. And lots of people start taking notice of it, and the stock prices of all the car manufacturers, not just Ford, but all the others skyrocket. And that phase two is called unrealistic expectations.
And then at the very peak disillusionment sets in, and disillusionment is the third phase. That's when people say, Are you kidding? horses can go over large ruts in the road. But cars can't. That means if you want to go somewhere, somebody has to pave the road in front of you, my gosh, there are millions of miles of roadbeds that have to get paved. Well, that could never happen. Also, horses don't bump into each other. But cars can therefore we have to do something about intersections so that cars don't bump into each other. And we have to illuminate all the roadways, oh my gosh, disillusionment sets in, when people realize all the work that has to get done before this disruptive technology can take hold.
And then after the disillusionment is over after roadbeds have been paved after intersections got created with red and green lights after street lamps got invented that illuminated the roadways. After all that work God did. Then there's this gigantic period called maturity, where prices of the stock like shares of the companies skyrocket for a long time. And if we think about car manufacturing companies in the year 1904, let's say you could have bought a share of Ford Motor Company for $1. And taking into account stock splits, it might be worth 10s of 1000s of dollars today. And instead of just using automobiles, let's think of quite recent technology, disruptive technology, the internet.
Raymond Aaron has shared his vision and wisdom on radio and television programs for over 40 years. He is the author of 10 best-selling books, including Branding Small Business For Dummies, Double Your Income Doing What You Love and the co-author of New York Times best-seller Chicken Soup for the Parent’s Soul and author of the Canadian best-seller, Chicken Soup for the Canadian Soul.
