What is especially fascinating is that both excellence and being stuck are reflections of chain-link logic. In the case of excellence, like IKEA, a series of chain-linked activities are all maintained at a high level of quality, each benefiting from the quality of the other and the whole being resistant to easy imitation. On the other hand, when a series of chain-linked activities are of low quality, as in General Motors circa 2007, the system can be stuck, because there is little gain to improving only a fraction of the activities. Marco Tinelli’s success demonstrates that to unstick a stuck
...more
