One Apple A Day #211
Some studies say that the lifespan of a company is about ten years.
Others that the life expectancy of a Fortune 500 company dropped from 90 years in 1935 to 18 in 2016.
It’s always hard to predict the future studying the past, but it’s evident that there is a trend. The probability for a company to die is higher than it has ever been. And according to the studies, this short expectancy has nothing to do with the history of the company or the products produced.
Leaders and executives are worried that their organisations may disappear in the short future. The typical answer to this fear is the mantra “innovate or die”.
It’s understandable. The world is changing very fast. An organisation that can not keep the pace of this change will become irrelevant.
“If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” – Jack Welch
But this thought about innovation and survival made me think of a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.
“If a man hasn’t found something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
Isn’t it the same for an organisation? If your company hasn’t found something it is ready to die for, is it fit to live?
Does your company has a higher purpose?
Having an answer to this last question is essential to create meaningful innovation. If you’re innovating to survive, your effort is driven by fear, and so, it will be less efficient. But if you are innovating to pursue a higher purpose, a purpose for which you are willing to risk the life of your company than your giving your company a reason to live.