It's been about nine months since we moved to our new home in the city of Chicago. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic shutdown, we've been able to enjoy at least some of what the downtown area has to offer. For example, earlier this summer we took one of the city's famous architectural boat tours along the Chicago River and the lakefront. We learned several interesting facts about the history of the city, but a few immediately come to mind.
The city's nickname ("the Windy City") actually has nothing to do with the fact that it can get really windy at times, especially along the lakefront. Rather, at least according to popular legend, the New York Sun newspaper editor Charles Dana coined the phrase in an 1890 newspaper article (though the article has never been found) when he was referring to the local politicians who were full of a lot of "hot air." Well there you go.
One of the buildings that makes up the famous "Windy City" skyline looks quite strange, even by architectural standards. The building is the InterContinental Hotel on the so-called "Magnificent Mile". The South Tower of the hotel was built in 1929, and it was the original site of the Medinah Athletic Club. The Medinah Athletic Club was commissioned by the Shriners Organization. The building contains several friezes depicting scenes from ancient Assyria, Sumeria, Egypt, and Greece, as well as other architectural elements with similar influences, including a gold-painted dome at the top. The club was home to over 400 guest rooms, an elegant Grand Ballroom, a shooting range, an indoor miniature golf course complete with water hazards and a wandering brook, an archery range, a gymnasium, an indoor running track, and an Olympic sized swimming pool known as the Johnny Weismuller Pool, because the Olympic swimming champion Johhny Weismuller (who later played Tarzan) trained there.
The Medinah Athletic Club filed for bankruptcy in 1934, and over the course of the next 10 years at a cost of $1 million, it was converted into a hotel. The gold-painted dome and a small tower immediately adjacent to it are quite unusual in appearance. I first learned on the architectural boat tour that the tower was originally designed to serve as a mooring site for dirigible airships. I wasn't quite sure if I believed that or not, but when I looked into it further, I found out that it was true (for a great story, see the link here)! Perhaps that's one of the reasons why the Medinah Athletic Club had to file for bankruptcy. They built a facility that would never be used. As a matter of fact, there has never been a dirigible dock on a skyscraper in the United States. The architects completely misjudged where the commerical aviation industry was going.
Okay, I know what you are thinking ("Where's he going with all of this?"). There are so many examples of organizations throughout history that have made similar errors in predicting where a particular industry was going. Whether entering an emerging market or creating a new one altogether, an organization's timing has to be almost perfect. There is such a thing as a "first mover advantage" where businesses that are the first to bring a new product or innovation to market have a distinct advantage over their competitors. For example, "first movers" can:
1. Establish their product or service as the industry gold standard
2. Reach customers before their competitors, which can establish brand recognition and brand loyalty
3. Control resources (raw materials, talent, etc)
However, it's not quite that straightforward. There can be disadvantages to being among the first to enter a market with a new product or service too:
1. The first mover frequently has to invest heavily to try to persuade customers to try their new product or service for the first time. Later entrants benefit by the fact that customers have already informed about and tried a new product or service.
2. The first mover will inevitably make mistakes - later entrants can learn from these mistakes.
3. Later entrants can "reverse engineer" new products or make them better or cheaper.
Case in point - the Medinah Athletic Club tried to capitalize on the commercial aviation industry by being one of the first buildings in downtown Chicago to have a mooring station for the dirigible airships that were popular at the time. However, in their case, they entered too early. The concept never took off, and they were left with a novelty of history.
Perhaps the so-called Goldilocks Principle applies here. Just as in the "Three Bears" fairy tale, a "not too early, not too late" approach may be the safest approach. Rather, timing should be "just right." Some organizations seem to always get it right. Most, like the Medinah Athletic Club, do not. An organization's strategy matters to a great extent here, which is why there are so many business books on strategy out there today.
I'm really looking forward to learning more about the histroy of this great city. There's a lot more to learn, and there are a lot more lessons on leadership to be found.
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