Simon Sinek argues that in-person human interaction will not be fully replaced by online communication; instead, interactions will blend with more flexible online options and hybrid work arrangements. He uses the example of Robinhood (a tech-first company) versus Fidelity (a traditional finance firm) to show that companies that present themselves as tech-forward and prioritize user experience can displace incumbents even without a superior product.
For those who think that we're going.
To be living our lives completely online, it's not going to happen. There's nothing that's going to replace good old fashioned human interaction.
And for the one person who gets.
Back on a plane to go visit a client and makes that client feel special, then we're all going to be on planes having business trips again. We're not going to be living in an online world for the rest of our lives.
But there is a comfort with the online medium now that it'll be more blended in. I think online is going to become more flexible.
For example, companies might give people the.
Opportunity to work from home or come.
To the office whenever they want, or Tuesdays and Thursdays we all come to the office. That's when we have all office meetings, for example. The point is it's going to become.
A little bit different.
It is going to become a little more flexible. I think one of the things that I think is very interesting is the rise of new tech, especially in the financial world. For example, I'll give you a real life experience. I try to Robinhood because I wanted to see what all the hubbub was about. No, I did not invest in GameStop and compare that to my Fidelity account.
So for me to make a trade.
On Robinhood is so easy, it's just so user friendly. You just plug in a couple numbers, it's completely intuitive and off you go.
You'Re off to the races. If I log onto my Fidelity account, it's excruciating.
It's absolutely, completely unintuitive. And the reason is, is because Robinhood is a tech company that just happens to be in finance, where Fidelity is a finance company that's struggling to do the tech thing. So one, the tech company knows that user experience is absolutely essential to good tech. The finance company, it's all about the finance, not about the technology. So recognizing how our customers are living their lives, meaning through a phone or online means by presenting ourselves as a.
Tech company that happens to be in.
Finance or in, you know, selling insurance.
Or financial planning, whatever it is, versus how am I just going to put everything that I've always been doing but.
Do it online, you're going to miss the boat. And this is why these new tech companies, whether it's Amazon or Netflix or all of these companies, they put the incumbents out of business. Robinhood is giving Fidelity a run for its money. Not because it offers a more robust product. It doesn't. But because it's just easier to use. It's more intuitive. So I think how you view yourself, what kind of company are you? Are you mired in your product, or are you mired in the way you.
Should be servicing your clients? I think that's a big way to reinvent ourselves.
