Spoiler Alert: The answer is yes, and that is a very important lesson for you, as well.

You’ve probably heard that when he was an undergraduate, Frederick W. Smith got less than a stellar grade on what was in essence the business plan for the company he would create: Federal Express. The professor thought Smith’s hub and spoke idea, which had every package first sent to Tennessee to be sorted and then shipped to destinations around the world, was, at best, painfully inefficient and, at worst, crazy. Why would you send a package from Chicago to Memphis to have it shipped back to Chicago?

Professors have this nasty habit of looking to the past—in this case to how packages were traditionally shipped—in order to predict the future. Unfortunately, so do many company executives.

What Business Could We Be In Tomorrow?

Because customer needs, wants and desires are constantly evolving, if you are the leader of a company bent on innovation, the most important question you must ask your team is, “What business could we be in tomorrow?”

If you work at FedEx, UPS or the U.S. Postal Service, a forward-thinking answer to this question could determine whether or not you have a future. For example, narrowly believing you are in the package delivery business will create blind spots, which will keep you from leveraging the massive competitive advantages you currently hold and, worse, could lead an innovative upstart to pick off the most profitable parts of your business.

Riddle me this, Batman: What business is Apple in? What about Google? The most innovative companies have this knack for redefining themselves based on aligning ever-changing customer needs, emerging technologies and their unique abilities— their superhero powers.

Show of hands…how many of you would buy a new home from Apple or let your kids attend a college launched by Google? I suspect your hand is up because each of these companies has consistently responded brilliantly to market needs and refused to define themselves by a single product, service or category. They are constantly thinking about the businesses they could be in tomorrow. They have become so good at it that it is impossible to define them by vertical or even industry.

How Uber Puts FedEx Out Of Business

Imagine you’re about to leave your office for the day and your phone vibrates with a text from Uber: “Your next door neighbor Stella has ordered a dozen cupcakes from the Courageous Cupcakes shop next to your office. Would you mind dropping them off at her house? We’ll credit your account $7.50.”

You’re happy to drop off the cupcakes. You’d do it for Stella for free. She’s your neighbor, and you’re driving home anyway, but, hey, a $7.50 credit is a $7.50 credit. You click the “Accept” button.