CLIPPINGS

Abstract

When you're competing for the future, you're trying to walk down a fairly narrow road without falling off on either side. On one side of that road is what I would call undercommitment. An assumption that you actually can't know anything about where the new opportunities may be; that you are merely going to be responsive or agile. When a company says to me, “We're going to be very responsive, and very quick on our feet,” my reaction to that is, “What you're telling me is that you're going to be a follower and that you don't have a point of view.” To me that is dangerous. Because, in so many cases, if you want to create these new opportunities, there are five or ten years of experimentation, investment, and work ahead of you.

Citation

(1999), "CLIPPINGS", Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 5-6. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb040010