At Bang & Olufsen, the Danish manufacturer of high end music players and speakers, its people were convinced that their success depended on providing the ultimate pureness of sound, creating beautiful objects, delighting users through great physical product interfaces, and thinking of music as a home experience. As a result, it has viewed architects and industrial designers as the best interpreters of customers’ aspirations. While these myths worked for quite some time to keep Bang & Olufsen as industry leaders, these same myths prevented Bang & Olufsen from reacting to the rise of MP3 digital encoding.
As we know, MP3 technology has radically changed the world of music by making music more accessible, shareable, and embedded in the net–but not at the standards set out by Bang & Olufsen people. What myths are impeding change at your company? Read more at the Harvard Business Review Blog.