Only Adaptive Organizations Will Survive

Technological innovation continues to grow by all measures – rate, magnitude, and sophistication. Change is continuous, and the rate of change is accelerating exponentially.  

As we entered the last quarter of the 20th century, companies listed on the S&P 500 held their spot for an average of about 75 years. Now, less than 50 years later, that average rests at about 15 years – an 80% reduction. 

Traditional barriers to market entry no longer exist: there is no need to overcome a market barrier when advances in technology offer entrepreneurs the opportunity to pull consumers into newly established markets, rather than find a way into an established market before the first consumer can be courted. 

Businesses must embrace a new reality; change is continuous, competition can and will come from diverse and unexpected sources, and radical adaptability is a critical requirement for businesses in all industries. Their survival depends on it.   

Innovative disruption is no longer a socioeconomic phenomenon studied only in textbooks: today, it is the core component of the engine driving economic progress.  And with that, the notion that a business is “too big to fail” no longer applies.