Renewal, Not Revolution
Success breeds active inertia, and active inertia breeds failure.
But is failure an inevitable consequence of success? In business, at least, the answer is no.
While Firestone floundered, Goodyear made a smooth transition to radial tires, emerging as one of the three global powers in the tire industry.
While Laura Ashley continued its downward drift, Gucci righted itself after a brief stumble.
History reveals many such pairs of industry leaders whose fates diverged when they were forced to respond to environmental changes.
Think of General Electric and Westinghouse, Volkswagen and Renault, Samsung and the Hanjin Group, Southwest Airlines and People Express.