For years Dell lead the way of ugly PC manufacturing. Their claim to fame has been the cheapest and most generic PC on the planet, delivered to your doorstep in any variation of ugly you want.

Beige, duotone silver, black did not matter in the rainbow of ugly because the competitive matrix was between price and performance and Dell had solutions in all the corners.

But then a funny thing happened.

Little fruit company out of Curpentino started making flashy computers that did pretty much what Dell’s solutions did. The little fruit company grew from obscure single digit percentage to being the third largest shipper of personal computers in America.

Suddenly, Dell could not grow its business and grow its margins. Suddenly things like design became important. Green became important. Style became relevant.

Dell was no longer just another fish in the ugly pond. It did what all the great companies do when they get told they simply aren’t keeping up with the marketing expectations.

It evolved.

Dell didn’t roam the desert for subjects to trick into thinking they are better than the market tells them they are.

Dell didn’t turn and say that it simply didn’t compete with pretty and flashy.

Dell didn’t sit back and choose to fight with the same tools it has used to get to the top, they completely redid their product line, changed their values.

Dell reinvented itself.

Little lesson for all of us. It doesn’t matter if we think we are right. It doesn’t matter what the perception is or who is causing the disruption.

What matters is listening to the clients, to the line of people lining up around the door to give us their money, and making sure we satisfy them.

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