The name Levi Strauss is
synonymous with blue jeans in
American culture. But the man by that name
wasn't thinking about jeans when he
went to California in hopes of making his
fortune during the gold strike of the
1840s and 50s. He did make a fortune, but not
the way he had planned.
He set out with a load of
heavy canvas fabric, from which he
planned to sell sections for tents and wagon
covers. Upon arrival, the first
miner who saw his product said, "You should have
brought pants." The
seasoned miner further explained how there
weren't any pants strong enough to
endure the tough conditions of mining. Levi
Strauss immediately made the miner
a pair of work pants, and struck gold. P54-55
(Mistakes that Worked, by
Charlotte Foltz Jones, (Doubleday
1991 p. 71-72) Illustration by Jim L. Wilson
In their book, No Rules
Rules: Netflix and the Culture of
Reinvention, Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer
write, “The vast majority of firms
fail when their industry shifts. Kodak failed
to adapt from paper photos to
digital. Nokia failed to adapt from flip
phones to smartphones. AOL failed to
adapt from dial-up internet to broadband.”
—No Rules Rules, xviii
Philippians
4:12–14
(CSB)
I know how to make do with
little, and I know how to make do
with a lot. In any and all circumstances I
have learned the secret of being
content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in
abundance or in need. I am able
to do all things through him who strengthens
me. Still, you did well by
partnering with me in my hardship.
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