Launching A New Initiative - Stop Checking the Box

Most often, when I analyze a company, one of the things that help you predict if an initiative is going to go well is understanding the culture and psychology of its leadership. 

However ... there are wildcards.  There are a few unpredictable leaders in business.

I would submit that Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs are a couple of exceptions to this rule. 

Steve Jobs (Apple) was famous for his "Think Different" philosophy.  Amazon has a corollary to this: it's OK to be misunderstood for an extended period by investors, and by the market, etc.

Furthermore, both Amazon and Apple have seemed willing to go into entirely new arenas based on its internal innovation.

Whoever thought 20 years ago, Apple would compete with Nokia and build a phone?

Whoever thought 20 years ago, Amazon would compete with Rackspace?

But the thing is, they didn't compete with those players.  They built something unique to their own DNA and based on their own ideas, needs, and strengths

This is the core of any good strategy.  The next time you find yourself checking the boxes to capitalize on a noticeable trend, reconsider HOW you are checking that box.