BlackBerry, the iconic tech company of the 2000s that revolutionized telecommunications. Or, BlackBerry, the failed phone company of the 2010s that failed to innovate in light of the iPhone. That’s the dichotomy and complicated history of this company. Recently, BlackBerry has been making the news rounds. This renewed interest in BlackBerry excited me because I have loved BlackBerrys for a long time. Unfortunately, most of the press was from the dramatic stock price rise amongst other stocks like Gamestop, and AMC. “In 2009, BlackBerry controlled half of the smartphone market. Today that number is less than one percent. What went so wrong?” It’s a good question. What happened to BlackBerry? I have always been interested in that question. Especially since I still use a BlackBerry to this day. They made great productivity and communication-focused devices that I use for emails, and as my main phone when I want to cut down on my screen time. I see the value that their phones provided and I’ve always had an appreciation for their design and innovation. BlackBerry was the biggest smartphone maker in the world, so what happened, and more importantly why? That’s the focus of the book “Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry”
Losing the Signal is not your typical business story. It goes into detail and uses interviews from CEOs and playmakers that witnessed firsthand the story of BlackBerry unfold and eventually crumble. The story revolves around the two co-CEOs of BlackBerry, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, who they are, how they came together, and how they made BlackBerry so great. The story pulls you in from the very beginning and keeps you intrigued which is often hard with stories that you know the end to, like that of BlackBerry. The story reads more like an intriguing action novel than a business story. It’s a great read with so many lessons that we can apply to our business and everyday life. There are 3 major lessons that I took from this read.
1. The Importance of Effective Communication
The collapse of the company can almost directly be attributed to a falling out between the co-CEOs in what is described as a “breakdown in communication”. Ironically the duo’s effective communication is what led BlackBerry to such dramatic heights in the first place. While reading the book, one begins to wonder if effective communication and conflict resolution would have made a difference. I believe that it would have. Today many of our personal and professional conflicts can be solved by us knowing how to navigate and tackle crucial conversations.
2. The Value of Perseverance
During the dramatic rise of BlackBerry there were many pitfalls and missteps along the way but the perseverance of all those involved helped push the company to exceed expectations. The company flirted with bankruptcy many times in its infancy and had to make radical decisions to stay alive. They faced competition from bigger companies trying to push them out of business and smaller companies looking to get a piece of the pie. Through it all, the company stayed the course and continued to persevere through the ups and downs. To this day BlackBerry is a competitive company, albeit nowhere near its peak. Nonetheless, it demonstrates the importance of perseverance and believing in your vision.
3. The Everchanging Nature of Legacy
A lot of people will argue that BlackBerry as a company is finished, that they have nothing left to offer, and that their peak is way beyond them. Loyalists will say that BlackBerry is a company that is still innovating and trailblazing in the software space and that the story is far from over. The reality is: we don’t know yet. The company is still alive and their legacy and what they’ll ultimately be remembered for is yet to be determined. Just like how our personal legacies and the effect that we leave in this world is truly unknown until the very end. That leaves us with only one choice, keep working on it.
I’ll leave you with a few words from the final chapter of the book, hopefully, it’ll inspire you to read it and find more lessons than I have:
“In the technology sector, failure is often a precondition to future successes, while prosperity can be the beginning of the end. If the rise and fall of BlackBerry teaches us anything is that the race for innovation has no finish line and that winners and losers can change places in an instant.”
