Acerca de sectores estáveis e demasiado homogéneos na oferta (parte VI)

Parte I, parte II, parte III, parte IV e parte V.
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Outro sector, outro exemplo: livrarias no tempo dos "chineses" da Amazon et al.

"My thoughts on the future of libraries are equally applicable to many other sectors that are facing the threat of extinction from massive disruption to their businesses."

Segue-se no artigo uma longa lista de produtos tornados obsoletos pelo smartphone. Depois:

"But the disruption isn’t limited to products. Whole sectors of commerce are under threat.[Moi ici: São as dores de parto de uma nova economia. Já não estamos no século XX mas ainda não estamos em pleno Mongo]
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Physical banks with branches, tellers and checks are being replaced by online banking with mobile payments and digital wallets.
Taxis are being replaced by Uber and Lyft.
Video rental stores like Blockbuster have given way to online streaming by Netflix and Amazon.
Television networks are facing similar inroads.
Venerable retail clothing chains are being undermined by fast fashion firms like Zara and H&M, with product cycles that are completed in weeks, rather than a year.
And who needs to buy a car when there is Zipcar or Car2Go?
Do we really need huge hotels when a firm like Airbnb has 800,000 listings in 33,000 cities?
Most physical book stories like Borders have already succumbed to Amazon, and paper books are being replaced by the Kindle and other devices."

Cá vai o desafio para as livrarias:

"we need to recognize that the computer age is not fundamentally about computerization. The computer age is about the change in management mindset enabled by computerization.
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The choices for the incumbents of the Traditional Economy are simple: change or die. Some organizations might decide, like Borders or Blockbuster, to die. Staying on the same course is not an option."

Qual a resposta típica dos incumbentes perante a disrupção provocada por quem chega para servir os lientes overserved?
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A resposta rápida, fácil e... errada:

"A second wrong path involves applying the 20th century preoccupation with efficiency to the organization and merely using computers to reduce costs."

 Algumas sugestões para as livrarias e não só:

"The first and most important question for libraries is to ask: How can we delight our users and customers? [Moi ici: Quem terão de ser os nossos clientes? Para quem podemos fazer a diferença? O que queremos ser?]
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How can we manage the library to enable continuous innovation?
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The third question is: What will make things better, faster, cheaper, more mobile, more convenient or more personalized for our users?
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The fourth question to ask is: What needs could libraries meet that users haven’t yet even thought of? We can’t solve the mystery of the future of libraries by asking users what they want: they simply don’t know! They can’t imagine the possibilities,"

E, para terminar uma citação que é uma grande verdade:

"We can also draw on the wisdom of French novelist Marcel Proust: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” We have to recognize the future that is already unfolding right in front of us. What we need are eyes to see it."

Uma citação que se encaixa bem com esta imagem que encontrei ontem no Twitter:

Trechos retirados de "Do We Need Libraries?"