Have you seen the new Alien movie? 

I’ll be honest, I haven’t. But I have seen the massive hype, the blockbuster ratings and the $283 million box office takings. Fans are singing its praises, and it’s speculated to be one of the most successful films in the whole Alien franchise. 

Since the first film brought the chest-bursting Xenomorph to our screens in 1979, each movie has brought an action-packed adventure, horrifying, entertaining and enthralling watchers of all ages. Throughout the past four and half decades, a total of 7 Alien movies have been made (as well as a couple of Predator movies that featured the Xenomorph too). The plot is pretty similar in every movie. People in space. Alien bursts out of someone’s chest. Xenomorph goes on rampage. Lots of people die. Hero saves the day. 

My point is, that this storyline is well and truly done. But it’s still good. It still works. And it still brings in a 9 figure box office total. So they keep doing it… They could chuck it all in. Say “Oh we’ve done that too many times now. Let’s try something new,” but they don’t. They keep doing what they know works, and they likely will until it stops working. 

I think we can learn something really important here. As business owners, we’re destined to always be attracted to those new, bright, shiny objects. We love new, exciting things and we’re forever full of ideas. And that’s a great thing. It breeds innovation, progression and change.

But we can sometimes forget that new isn’t always better. How many times have you stopped doing something that worked, just because a bright shiny object caught your attention? How many marketing campaigns that were still working have you stopped running because you had an idea for something new? 

Innovation is great, but consistency and repetition can be just as powerful. Do what works. Do it again. And keep doing it until it doesn’t work any more. That’s the secret sauce…