Contrary to conventional wisdom, great experiences and successes can destroy your company! Yes, really.

Most leaders believe in the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mantra of business strategy.  If the current plan yields the desired results, all is good with the board of directors.  Consideration to prevailing structural breaks and disruptions is often nonexistent and irrelevant.  Dominant market positions are eternal!  Ask Blockbuster.

Once the leader realizes the organization may be in jeopardy, he or she leaps into “fix it” mode, often relying on past experiences and successes to resolve unfamiliar and unrelated issues.  Decisions are made without timely analytics and forward-thinking perspective.  Leaders either don’t take the time to, or do not know how to, accurately address the challenge, resulting in wasted resources.  What you know can destroy your company. Ask Research in Motion.

Tomorrow’s viability is contingent on your ability to forget (or at least put into proper perspective) those things that are no longer relevant. Get out of your comfort zone, challenging your business to redefine and reconstruct itself.  Forget what you know – so that you can learn what is necessary to optimize your organization’s performance.