In our research for How the Mighty Fall, we found that the demise of once-great companies happens in five stages: (1) Hubris Born of Success, (2) Undisciplined Pursuit of More, (3) Denial of Risk and Peril, (4) Grasping for Salvation, and (5) Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death. Take special note of Stage 4, Grasping for Salvation. When companies fall into Stage 4, they succumb to the doom loop, the exact opposite of building flywheel momentum. They grasp for charismatic saviors or untested strategies or big uncalibrated cannonballs or cultural revolutions or “game-changing” acquisitions or
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