Be careful what you wish for - you might end up getting it.

Over the past three years, this column has written about how to create success. We have written about understanding customers, creating products that satisfy customer needs … well, you know it all already; you've read the columns, no need to repeat.

But did you know that sometimes failure is bred in success? That successful companies often sow the seeds of their own failure? That succeeding sometimes creates failure?

Let's look at Motorola, a company that has in recent years failed not once, but twice, and both for the same reason. It was too successful.

Once upon a time, all cellphones were huge lumps of plastic. They were not too fondly called "bricks". These bricks didn't fold, didn't expand, didn't convert, didn't slide - they just sat there, burrowing a hole in your shirt or pants pocket.

Then Motorola invented the StarTac, the first popular "clamshell" phone. Its flip-top was cool and neat, it was small and light, it fit well into your pocket or purse or dangled around your neck on a string. It blew the market wide open.

But it had one huge flaw - it was an analogue phone. No big deal and certainly not an encumbrance at a time when the whole world was analogue. So when the competition started making digital phones, Motorola, blinded by its runaway sales for the StarTac, kept making analogue phones. One day, it woke up and poof! Sales were gone, as everyone had moved to the digital phones of Nokia and Samsung.

Motorola's success bred an inability to conceive of failure, which in turn led to failure.

Fast-forward a few years. In late 2003, Motorola stood the cellphone world on its head one more time by introducing a cutting-edge phone called the Razr. Sleek, shiny, new-age metallic, it was the StarTac of its decade. Once again, it blew apart the market and killed the competition. Three straight years of profits followed. The company was riding high. Everyone wanted a Razr. When asked what came after the Razr, the CEO of Motorola exclaimed: "More Razrs."

But just as the StarTac was built on an old platform, in its case analogue, so was the Razr built on a soon-to-be-old platform: 2G. The world suddenly shifted to 3G and, guess what, Motorola failed to make the switch.

Again, it was so blinded by the success of the Razr that it started to introduce Razr clones - the Krzr and others. Then Motorola introduced Rokr, the first music phone, co-built with Apple. All 2G. Samsung, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and even upstart LG were all piling into 3G and leaving Motorola in the dust.

The purpose of this is not to denigrate Motorola, a superb company that invented the original cellphone. This company will surely bounce back with new and even better products, as it always does. The critical lesson is how it was blinded by its own success and how it was its own success that caused it to lose sight of a rapidly evolving market - and cause failure.

The solution? You guessed it. Stay close to your customers, listen to them. Especially listen to your non-customers. What are the people who are not buying your products saying about you? Listen to them and don't be blinded by your own success.

"I love my job. I hate my customers," said the same CEO. Don't you be the same. Instead, you should say: "I love my customers and I hate my success."

Enjoy your successes. In today's world, they are few and far between. Just don't let today's successes become tomorrow's failures.

nEric Rosenkranz's consultancy e.three (www.ethree-asia.com) helps companies create success and avoid failure. He can be contacted at er@ethree-asia.com or (02) 343 1623.