Change, the One Constant

There was a story that circulated in my family while I was growing up. I believe this story was told and re-told to emphasize a point and was repeated so many times that it became a legend in our home. It illustrated an important lesson in life and in business: Be willing to innovate and change. Do not ever allow yourself to stagnate. The story went like this: My mother was secretary to one of the vice-presidents of the Crown Cork and Seal Company. As the name implied, they were a manufacturer of cork products used to seal bottles and other containers. Cork is harvested from the bark of Cork Trees that only grow in certain parts of the world. Cork has the unique ability to be soft and flexible, yet quite durable, an ideal material with which to create an airtight seal. This company was founded in 1892 and thrived throughout the early part of the 20th Century. They had a great business model, their products were in demand, and they were growing. However, as the story went, they made one fatal mistake, they did not innovate. They became complacent and stagnated. They had market share and name recognition, but they did not change and adapt with the world around them, and according to the legend, eventually it led to their demise.

By the 1950s and early 1960s petroleum-based products, plastics and rubber materials, were emerging as an alternative to cork. But, the company refused to consider the benefits of these new materials, as the story goes... They were confident that nothing would ever replace cork in creating that important airtight seal for some containers. Consequently, their market share began to dwindle, and they eventually went out of business. At least, that is how the story went…

There is only one problem with this story: Apparently, my mother did indeed work for the Crown Cork and Seal Company. But, the part about them going out of business is all a fabrication, which I did not learn about until just recently. However, this fabled analogy is still instructive, for two reasons, 1) because many businesses that have faced similar challenges did not survive, and 2) because they actually did innovate and have now been in business for over 130 years. The Crown Cork and Seal Company was not afraid to try new materials and venture into other areas of the packaging world. They eventually dropped from their name the very material that gave them their start, cork. They are now known simply as Crown Holdings, Inc. They have 192 packaging plants in 39 countries and employ over 33,000 people. Of all Fortune 500 companies, they are number one in the packaging and container industry, and make 1 out of every 5 beverage containers worldwide. But, it all started with cork, a material they no longer even use. There are many real world examples of well-established and successful businesses that were unable to weather the changing landscape of their niche market. They began with a wildly successful business model, grew complacent in their success, but then stagnated, and eventually fizzled and expired. Try searching: “50 Brands that Failed to Innovate.” You will find Kodak at the top of the list. Kodak dominated the photographic film market for most of the 20th Century. By the time Kodak realized that the world was going digital, it was too late.

When I started into dentistry in the early 80s, computers were not in widespread use anywhere, let alone in dental offices. For accounting purposes, we relied upon the trusty pegboard system. It was a bit cumbersome, but worked well. We could have desperately clung to the pegboard, and resisted the advent of computers, but it would not have benefited us, nor our patients. It would have been like Kodak failing to acknowledge the digital inroads that eventually took over the photographic world, or as if the Crown Cork and Seal Company had resisted the advent of rubber and plastics, which, fortunately for them, they did not.

I distinctly remember our first office computer. By today’s standards, this machine was a stand-alone monstrosity. The only thing it connected to was an electrical outlet. Forget the internet. It was clunky and cumbersome. But, it was a big decision and a major investment at the time. To put things in perspective, this one computer set us back financially on a par with what a scanner or chairside mill might cost today, and all it did was help keep track of production and billing. That was it. It was long before the advent of Windows based computing. At the time, we spoke in kilobytes and megabytes. The first time I heard the work gigabyte was when my CPA was bragging about how much storage he had, with just two of them. My how times have changed!

While I must admit that some aspects of the pegboard era are appealing to me, trying to practice dentistry now without all of the other benefits that have accompanied the advent of the microchip seem absurd. Ponder briefly how the microchip is currently being utilized in dentistry: Accounts payable, accounts receivable, charting, scheduling, inventory, videography, photography, radiography, scanning, designing, milling, printing, and marketing, to name just a few.

The microchip has transformed much of our world, especially dentistry. It has improved our accuracy with many things, and made us more efficient and deliberate. And remarkably, I believe it can make good dentists even better. I marvel at the precision with which we can scan, design, and manufacture so many things that used to require multiple, painstaking steps, and much time to produce. What a marvelous and exciting time to be a dentist!