Another dot from the (highly recommended) movie Air (see dot 3935).
One of the challenges Sonny Vaccaro faced was getting Nike to allocate enough money to make his endorsement deals attractive. In 1984, Nike was a running shoe company, and, as CEO Phil Knight pointed out, 200 million people wear running shoes — when they walk, run, go to the store, etc. At the time, the belief was that basketball shoes were only worn by basketball players when they were engaged in the sport, meaning that at the most, there were 1 million potential customers, not worthy of extensive investments.
This premise exploded when Nike sold 162 million Air Jordans in the first year.
Do you have a belief that drives your operating practices, but in reality is false? Rethink the assumptions that drive your organization and, at a minimum, test them out. There could be an entirely new market waiting for you if you have the courage to bust some myths.
