The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium

by Martin Gurri

Ormerod compared the failure rates of companies with the extinction rates for species: “The precise mathematical relationship which describes the link between the frequency and size of the extinction of companies,” he wrote, “. . . is virtually identical to that which describes the extinction of biological species in the fossil record. Only the timescales differ.”39 Consider the implications. Companies intend to survive, indeed to thrive, and act on those intentions. They research the market environment, draft strategic plans, seek to maximize their advantages and minimize their weaknesses. Yet, ultimately, their failure rate is “virtually identical” to the random pattern of animal extinction.