How the Mighty Fall: A Primer on the Warning Signs

Reminds me of The Innovator's Dilemma, but I think that applies only to specific product categories. The fortunes of many companies are tied to a family of products (e.g. Digital), and so the decline of that product category can cause the fall of the company.

The article is talking about companies that are so large that they become more like investors, whose job it is to allocate capital across different product categories. A skillful investor can then offset the tired against the vigorous to ride out the changes. But it seems to me that a company still needs to have some kind of mission and special expertise. This is why focusing on an abiding customer need appeals to me, instead of a specific technology or market. The need will always be there; if you keep on finding new and improved ways to solve, it you will always be providing something worthwhile. That is, if you organize yourself around finding and improving, not around a particular technology or market.

For example, Google's mission, to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful" isn't tied to PageRank or even the internet. Whether this mission is more than PR, and whether they could make the leap in practice, hasn't yet been tested - though WolframAlpha might give them a workout.

I often ask the question - what's the difference between Detroit in 1972 and Silicon Valley now? None!