When yesterday’s solutions are the best fit for tomorrow’s problems

Announcement that Jose Mourinho was returning to Chelsea Football Club this week was met with passion and fanfare by fans. AFP 

By MARVIN SISSEY
 

 

In Summary

• Some classic stories from the past show the truth of the adage — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

A sobering thought: what if, at this very moment, I am living up to my full potential?

Those words by Jane Wagner will be our starting point today. But to bring this thought into finer perspective, let me share a few incidents.

Since 2009, Microsoft started working on what it referred to as its breakthrough Windows software, which was to deal with looming competition from Android and iOS. The operating system, dubbed Windows 8, was released last October.

Windows 8 introduced significant changes to improve user experience on mobile devices. It introduced a brand new touch user interface. But its most dramatic change was replacing the Start button with a Start screen, a tile system of apps spread evenly on the screen.

This was the most Microsoft had altered its operating system since it changed from doors to windows. The expectation was that techies would be excited by the changes. It only made sense — technology is all about change, isn’t it? Ironically though, this is where the trouble started.

Even in tech world, there are moments when status quo is better than change. The omission of the start button caused some disapproving murmurs at the start and by last month, cyberspace pandemonium was full blown.

The same people who had ditched Windows to embrace seemingly more complicated Android and iOS software now claimed that the new Windows 8 was too complicated without the Start button.

In the spirit of the customer being the king , last week, Microsoft gave in and announced that it was returning the Start button.

In a blog post, Antoine Leblond, corporate vice president of Windows Program Management, announced that the new Windows will be dubbed Windows 8.1, and will be available as a free update to the current Windows 8 by August this year.

The second incident occurred in 1985. During the Cola wars starting in the early 1980s, Pepsi introduced taste tests where it beat Coke resoundingly due to what tasters termed as its sweeter taste. Coca-Cola’s reaction was to commission a new project, named “Project Kansas” to test, improve and perfect the coke flavour.

The resulting flavour was a sweeter drink than the original Coke. In focus groups taste tests, the new flavour beat both the original Coke and Pepsi. More than 80 per cent of the tasters said they would buy it.

Only a small percentage was not open to the idea of replacing Coke, claiming they would stop drinking Coke altogether. With more than 80 per cent approval rating, Coke felt satisfied to make the switch.

April 23, 1985 was the date of the launch of the “New Coke”. Exuberant, then Coca-Cola CEO Robert Guizetta described the new Coke as smoother, rounder yet bolder with a harmonious flavour. He defended the switch sensationally claiming that the old formula was not sacrosanct and inviolable.

As expected, there was early acceptance, with many resuming taking the new Coke in similar numbers to the old one. In fact more than 75 per cent of the respondents preferred the new Coke, in line with the focus group survey.

But the real test was to occur in South East America in the area near Atlanta, Georgia, where the first Coke had been bottled almost a century earlier.