Kodak: The Giant That Missed Its Own Revolution

Once upon a time, there was Kodak—the company that didn’t just capture moments, it captured our imaginations. Kodak was everywhere. Its name became synonymous with photography, with life’s celebrations and memories, with the very idea of preserving the fleeting. They weren’t just another business; they were the storytellers of an entire generation. But then, something happened. Kodak invented the future of photography—then let it slip through their fingers.

In 1975, a Kodak engineer named Steven Sasson created the first digital camera. It was clunky and slow, taking 20 seconds to produce a grainy black-and-white image. But Sasson knew what it meant. He saw, in that bulky prototype, the future of photography. And yet, when he presented it to Kodak’s leadership, they didn’t see it. They shelved the digital camera, tucked it away like an inconvenient truth. Why? Because they were afraid. They were afraid it would disrupt the film business—the same business that had made Kodak a household name.

Kodak’s leadership made a classic mistake. They mistook the present for the future. They feared disrupting their own success and, in doing so, missed the chance to lead the revolution they themselves had started.

The Power of Success—and Its Traps

In How the Mighty Fall, Jim Collins argues that companies like Kodak don’t collapse because they run out of talent or resources. They collapse because they get caught up in their own success. They become so focused on what’s working now that they fail to anticipate what might work tomorrow. This is the story of Kodak.

For decades, Kodak was the undisputed leader in film photography. They built an empire, a business model that seemed unshakable. And that very success blinded them. Kodak didn’t just dominate the market—they were the market. In their minds, film was photography, and their profits depended on keeping that reality intact. So, when Sasson showed them the future, they couldn’t see it for what it was. The digital camera wasn’t just a new product—it was a threat. A threat to their film sales, to their dominance, to their very identity.

Leadership, however, is not about protecting what you have. It’s about understanding where things are headed—and adapting. Kodak had the foresight to invent the digital camera but lacked the courage to embrace it. They were blinded by what Collins calls the “hubris born of success.” They believed, quite simply, that they were untouchable.

The Perils of Short-Term Thinking

Kodak’s fear of the future wasn’t irrational. They knew that digital photography had the potential to upend their film business. But rather than lead the charge into the digital age, they chose to defend the status quo. They clung to film, believing they could milk a few more years of profitability from it. But by doing so, they made a critical error.

Collins describes this as the “undisciplined pursuit of more”—the tendency for companies to focus on squeezing every last drop of profit from their existing business, rather than investing in the future. Kodak’s leadership thought they could keep their film business alive indefinitely. They believed they could hold off the future just a little longer. But the future doesn’t wait.

By the time Kodak finally recognized that digital photography was taking over, it was too late. Companies like Canon, Nikon, and Sony had already staked their claim in the digital camera market. Kodak was left scrambling, trying to catch up to a revolution they had helped start but then ignored.

The Brutal Facts

What makes Kodak’s story so poignant is that they didn’t fail because they lacked innovation. They failed because they lacked strategy. The problem wasn’t that they didn’t see the digital revolution coming—it’s that they chose to look the other way.

In Good to Great, Jim Collins explains that great companies are the ones that confront the brutal facts of their reality. They don’t hide from uncomfortable truths; they adapt to them. Kodak, however, refused to acknowledge that the world was changing. They doubled down on their film business, hoping that by sheer willpower they could keep it alive. But the truth is, no amount of willpower could stop the digital revolution. The world was moving on, and Kodak was standing still.

This wasn’t just a failure of imagination; it was a failure of leadership. Kodak had the tools to succeed in the digital age, but they were too busy protecting the past to build the future.

Focus—and the Lack Thereof

What happens when a company loses focus? For Kodak, it was the difference between leading the industry and filing for bankruptcy. By the time Kodak declared bankruptcy in 2012, the company that had once been synonymous with photography had become a cautionary tale—a giant brought to its knees by its own inability to adapt.

And the true tragedy? It didn’t have to end this way. Kodak had the resources, the talent, and the innovation to lead the digital revolution. But their leadership couldn’t bring themselves to let go of film. They were so focused on protecting what they had that they couldn’t see what they could become.

In the end, Kodak lost everything because they couldn’t make that shift. They lost focus, both literally and figuratively. And as any photographer knows, when you’re out of focus, you can’t see the bigger picture.

The Moral of the Story

Kodak’s story isn’t just about a company that failed to innovate—it’s about the dangers of clinging too tightly to what’s familiar. Leadership isn’t just about managing today’s success; it’s about anticipating tomorrow’s possibilities.

The lesson here is simple: great companies don’t just innovate—they adapt. They confront uncomfortable truths, even when those truths threaten to upend their business. They let go of the past to seize the future.

Kodak had everything it needed to lead the digital revolution. But they couldn’t bring themselves to disrupt their own success. They had all the pieces of the puzzle, but they couldn’t put them together. And as Kodak’s story shows us, once you lose focus, it’s very hard to get it back.

In the words of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky: “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” Kodak, unfortunately, skated to where the puck was. And by the time they looked up, the game had already moved on.

Nathaniel Steele is an experienced writer with 37 years of expertise as an investigator and interviewer. He creates engaging fiction, editorials, and narratives that explore and challenge key American social experiences.