It's not what we're trained for as leaders or how our businesses are set up to work.
Most companies everywhere are struggling to grow right now. With their revenues flat to down, they're cutting costs to raise profits. But cutting costs faster than revenues decline is no prescription for long-term success. It is, rather, as Gary Hamel, the author of The Future of Management, puts it, "management inertia." Businesses are on a track that is easy to follow but ultimately self-destructive.
The answer seems to be innovation. Yet few businesses are any good at innovation. For all their brainstorming exercises and "open innovation" programs, they mostly just come up with reformulations of existing products, new pricing plans and basic updates--the same old things just a little cheaper, faster or better.
Why The Pursuit Of Innovation Usually Fails
