“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you for being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.” 

The Bible declares that the lack of knowledge leads to destruction. One can also argue that the lack of knowledge also leads to a lack of innovation and a lack of innovation leads to destruction. Knowledge, especially knowledge based on the truth of God’s Word, understanding of human needs, and market demands, is essential to creating a culture of innovation. Innovation is essential for the survival of any company. Simply put, in today’s market, especially whether you are a for-profit company, an NGO, a church, or a government organization, you must innovate or die.

Do a little Google search and you will find hundreds of companies that no longer exist today due to the lack of innovation. You will even find some ideas that never took off because of new innovations. Before it was launched, a new technology or concept got introduced in the market and undercut it before it even had a chance. Some ideas, after launched, had a short window due to new innovations. In today's marketplace, your survival depends on your ability to innovate.

Let’s look at a few victims of the lack of innovation:

1. Polaroid – Founded in 1937, Polaroid was one of America’s early high-tech success stories. The company became a hit 1972 when they introduced the SX-70, the camera that superseded the old peel-back Polaroids with a picture that developed, as you watched. In the late ’90s, Polaroid was at its peak. In 2001, due to the boom of digital photography and their continued belief that paper print was what the customer wanted, the company filed for bankruptcy.
2. Kodak – Kodak, a technology company that dominated the photographic film market during most of the 20th century. The company blew its chance to lead the digital photography revolution as they were in denial for too long.
3. Blockbuster – The video-rental company was at its peak in 2004. They survived the change from VHS to DVD but failed to innovate into a market that allowed for door to door DVD deliveries, much less streaming. Soon Netflix took over and they were forced to close their doors nationwide.
4. Yahoo – In 2005, Yahoo was one of the main players in the online advertising market. But because Yahoo undervalued the importance of searches, they did not take additional risks to improve its user experience and its search engine business, giving way to Google who now dominates the search engine business.
5. BlackBerry – A line of smartphones and tablets, was a smashing success in 1998. They changed the game in the mobile industry by offering a device with an arched keyboard. Their encryption, even into the early 2000s, was second to none but they weren’t thinking of user experience. Just a few years later, the entire mobile industry started focusing on bigger touchscreen displays, while BlackBerry was more concerned about protecting what it already had.
6. Sears – A United States-based department store company that had one of the tallest towers in the world in 1973 and was a major success. But when a new generation of large retailers, like Walmart and Kmart, came around, Sears lost sight of what they were good at.
7. Sony – A manufacturer of electronic products, changed the way we listen to music with the invention of the Walkman in 1979. By the ‘90s, Walkman was a must-have gadget for every teen. It was the iPhone of its day. But when MP3 players were introduced to the market, the sales of the Walkman started to drop. The iconic Walkman was killed by the MP3 players, which were later killed by smartphones.

These are just a few of the hundreds if not thousands of companies that died or have been significantly reduced in size becoming irrelevant due to their lack of innovation. How innovative is your business or ministry culture? Are you in denial of the changes around you? Are you focused on protecting what you’ve gained or are you willing to take risks to embrace new horizons? Let God do a new thing in your business or ministry today and embrace innovation to grow your kingdom company.

“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” – Isaiah 43:19 (NKJV)

My prayer for you today is that God will give you the grace and wisdom to be innovative so your company will not experience premature death.

Share these devotionals with a friend or coworker by directing them to our email signup page - located here 🗣

Subscribe to receive more business devotionals - click here 🙏