This is an interesting article from the Harvard Business Review that points out the need for companies to be consistently looking to reinvent themselves, rather that just adapt. Early in a business’ life, it is initially dynamic and adaptive as it finds a niche in the market. It then solidifies its processes to maximize profitability, and finally hits a growth rate plateau later in its life. As the HBR article outlines, this stall is typically when a business frantically tries to adapt to the new circumstances. It points out that successful reinventions typically include “tracking the basis of competition in their industry, renewing their capabilities, and nurturing a ready supply of talent”–three hidden S curves that are comparable to Schumpeter’s theory of creative destruction.
Jeff DeGraff is the Dean of Innovation – an author, speaker, and advisor to Fortune 500 companies and mission-driven organizations worldwide. He’s the CEO and Founder of Innovatrium, Founder of Intellectual Edge Alliance, and Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Jeff co-created the Competing Values Framework and developed the Innovation Code and Innovation Genome methodologies which provide organizations with practical tools to reconcile competing priorities and drive breakthrough performance. His mission is the democratization of innovation: making systematic innovation accessible to everyone, everywhere, every day.