#27 How Les Paul changed the world with the right strategy
This episode was recorded in German.
The strategy story of Les Paul
In this episode, Christian and Jürgen share a great story from the music world as the music lovers they are, the story of an unparalleled strategist. It's a perfect example of how to learn from strategy stories of the past and apply them to your strategy work today.
On June 9, 1915, Lester William Polsfuss was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He was deeply interested in music from an early age. Although he grew up in modest circumstances, he had the chance to learn instruments. He started with the harmonica, then added the banjo. But he fell in love with Christian and Jürgen's favorite instrument: the guitar.
We're talking about Les Paul.
Show notes:
Prof. Jürgen Weigandandhttps://www.juergenweigand.com
Pre-order the book Hope Is Not a Strategyhere.
Detailed episode description:
Contents:
- Talent and curiosity as a strategist's driving force- The key to success: the right people around you- Plenty of ideas and a clear vision led to the first single-coil pickup- Think big and keep dreaming as a strategist- With the right strategy, Les Paul became an icon of an entire industry- Les Paul as strategist, inventor and visionary in the music business- Using the power of collaboration to drive innovation- Takeaway: the Les Paul story in a strategy context- Contact- Show notes
Talent and curiosity as a strategist's driving forceWisconsin is known for dairy products and country music. Les set his sights on a guitar career and was already playing in country bands at a highly professional level at just 13. Lester was very talented and eager to learn. At the same time, he was deeply dissatisfied with his guitar and with the equipment of the day, things like record players and amplifiers. So he took matters into his own hands and took apart all kinds of instruments and devices to understand how they worked. By studying technical books from the city library, Lester became a self-made music engineer.
The key to success: the right people around youAfter school, Lester left the Midwest. He went to Chicago and later to New York, where he played in various country and jazz bands until he met Bing Crosby. Crosby thought Lester was a fantastic guitarist, and he was also excited about Lester's ideas for guitars, amplifiers and recording techniques. Bing gave Les Paul a sponsorship. At the same time, Les had an idea for how a solid-body guitar could solve the feedback problem. As a visionary, he figured you'd be left with longer sustain, meaning the note would ring out longer once the vibrations were gone. Even though the solution wasn't entirely satisfying to Lester, he pulled it off. And he kept tinkering.
Plenty of ideas and a clear vision led to the first single-coil pickupDuring his time in various bands, his vision of how to refine his idea became clearer and clearer. He dropped the guitar body entirely and grabbed a square piece of wood, onto which he mounted pickups he had developed himself. Pickups generally create a magnetic field. By winding wire around the electrode, he brought the first single-coil pickup to life. He called the first guitar he built The Log. It worked beautifully. His bandmates, however, weren't impressed by how Lester's creation looked. So what did the strategist do? He took inspiration from his guitar collection and cut a guitar in half lengthwise. He attached the top half to his Log and the bottom half underneath. Now the guitar had a new look, and his bandmates were happy too.
Think big and keep dreaming as a strategistBut even that solution didn't stop him from dreaming bigger. He approached a renowned guitar manufacturer: Gibson Guitars. He presented The Log with the proposal to mass-produce this design and turn it into a standard guitar. At first, Gibson rejected his idea. Over time, Lester made a name for himself in the music scene and his fame grew rapidly, until one day Gibson could no longer ignore him. In 1951, the first prototype, the Les Paul Standard, came to market.
With the right strategy, Les Paul became an icon of an entire industrySince then, Les Paul has been synonymous with the electric guitar. Every guitar fan wants to own an original Les Paul. Without Les Paul, stories like the Rolling Stones or Deep Purple would never have been written, because Les Paul inspired so many guitarists to move away from semi-acoustic guitars toward electric ones. That changed the business model for Gibson. There were many technical innovations, and Gibson shook up the guitar makers who had dominated until then. Without Les Paul, Gibson's success in guitars would be unthinkable. The brand exploded at first, then went through a rough patch. It was a question of strategy to figure out how to reproduce brands that are closely tied to the past. Gibson responded cleverly with new models, variants and relic guitars made to look aged, some of which sold at eye-watering prices. Les Paul wasn't only going to make history in guitars. He also revolutionized recording technology. In 1930, he developed a multitrack recorder.
Les Paul as strategist, inventor and visionary in the music business In the 1960s, Les Paul stepped back from the music business, though he stayed closely connected to music. Les Paul was a strategist with passion and purpose. His drive was to make music and recording better and to create more possibilities.
Using the power of collaboration to drive innovationLester's example shows how important cooperation is. He believed in the power of collaboration and in the advantage of specialization. When we recognize and use that, and have a partner on the other side we can rely on and trust, something new emerges. That way, things nobody had thought of before get created faster and at lower cost. The era of secrecy that still dominates much of the German Mittelstand should come to an end. In a world that keeps getting more complex, we have to develop new solutions faster and faster. How are we supposed to manage that alone? A company's R&D budget has its limits, while innovation and open source keep growing in importance. Cooperation always opens the door to achieving something bigger than you could on your own.
Takeaway: the Les Paul story in a strategy contextThe Les Paul story shows that disruption didn't start in 2020. Recording technology in particular goes through disruption at regular intervals: from the vinyl record to the cassette to the CD to the MP3. Then platforms entered the picture, and today most people just stream. Anyone who wants to earn money along a value chain has to keep thinking about strategy in terms of new distribution channels. The most important principle for strategy makers to keep in mind is that the only constant is change. If we close ourselves off to change, we'll fall victim to disruption.
Contact: Need help with your corporate strategy or want to give us feedback? Get in touch at info@underwood.de. We'd love to hear from you.
Show notes:Christian UnderwoodProf. Jürgen Weigandandhttps://www.juergenweigand.comUnderwood GmbHHope Is Not a StrategyWHU
Pre-order the book Hope Is Not a Strategyhere.