by Adam Hartung | Feb 12, 2007 | Disruptions, General, Innovation, Leadership, Lock-in, Openness
Is a Tattoo art? Can a tattoo style drawing sell a product? These are two questions I really never asked myself before, but now I’m asking them a lot.
Sometimes we can’t see what’s right in front of our faces. We all suffer from BIAS – Beliefs, Interpretations, Assumptions and Strategies – that we carry around in our heads. As we develop our Success Formulas, we Lock them in with our BIAS and we often start missing things. And some of these can be really big trends.
The Chicago Tribune ran an article in the Business Section (yes the Business section) about the use of tattoo art in mainstream ads (see full article here). Now, I have to admit that tattoos are not something I think about at all. But this article pointed out that they are getting to be pretty much everywhere, on everybody. And, as importantly, the artists are downright cheap compared to typical graphic artists used in ad production. That really caught my attention.
Then I started to notice, and think. The images of Anna Nicole Smith all over the TV following her untimely death showed a tattoo on her leg. Many (maybe most?) of the performer’s at this week’s Grammy award seemed to have visible tattoos. Then I realized that I see tattoos increasingly on the young people that associate with my high school and college age sons. I had "seen" these tattoos before. But my mind hadn’t "seen" them. Why, it was startling how popular tattoos are. I noticed last weekend going to run errands that I identified at least a half dozen tattoo parlors within 10 miles of my northwest suburban Chicago home. No matter what I thought, or better said what I didn’t think, about tattoos they are a lot more popular and part of popular culture than I realized.
My Success Formula had never thought about tattoos. I have held the top marketing job in a $3B manufacturing company, and worked at PepsiCo a top marketing company, and I am heavily involved in advertising graphics with clients today — and from that I had developed a Lock-in about commercial graphics. And that Lock-in left me completely BIASed to ignore tattoo art as a commercial graphics product. The Tribune article showed me a market Challenge – a new art form that is growing in popularity and cheap. And as a result I’ve had to Disrupt my Lock-in. Now I’m looking for White Space to explore the possibilities this might open up for advertisers. (As long as it doesn’t include putting ink into my 50 year old white, less than menacing forearms – lol.)
We all have Success Formulas, and we Lock them in. We develop a BIAS around them that can blind us to opportunities. That’s why it is critical that we use external stimuli to help identify market Challenges we otherwise will completely miss. Don’t become BIAS blinded to opportunities.
by Adam Hartung | Feb 8, 2007 | Disruptions, General, Innovation, Leadership, Lifecycle, Lock-in, Openness
It’s easier to recognize a problem than it is to find a solution. I’m sure you’ve noticed this. In practically everything we do we can see the need for improvement, but we often find that nothing happens to make things better. Even when a crisis happens,we often see lots of people discussing the problem – and some talk about potential solutions – but not much progress is made.
Take for example the U.S. health care situation. We now have a country where 20% to 40% of the population has no health care coverage with between 30% and 50% are significantly under-insured (ranges are offered because it depends on what study you read.) Virtually everyone agrees that this is a big problem, because the U.S. health care system is not designed to deal with the uninsured. We hear stories of people waiting for hours in hospitals for basic care that is often poorly administered. We hear about total health care costs rising because the uninsured drive up costs that are then born by insured patients. And the medicare and medicaid system we are told is nearly bankrupt, unable to meet many basic needs and not providing necessary life-sustaining assistance. Increasingly, doctors, clinics and even some hospitals refuse to take uninsured patients.
The problem has been easy to see. In America, the system has been based upon employer-provided health care. But, as employees have changed jobs they have lost insurance due to "pre-existing condition" clauses that deny coverage. And people who lost jobs to downsizings lost all coverage completely. Employment has shifted dramatically from manufacturing to services in the U.S., yet a far higher percentage of service employers offer very limited insurance, or no insurance at all. And the vast army of those who work part-time (under 40 hours per week), have no access to insurance as employers limit their hours and limit access to coverage as a cost saving measure. Employer-provided health insurance worked in the far more stable employment practices of the 1940s to 1970s, but the program simply isn’t sufficient to meet the needs of nearly half of Americans today.
Yesterday, Wal-Mart agreed with the largest service union in the USA (their bitter enemy, the Service Employees International Union) that dramatic changes were needed in health care coverage (see article here.) Obviously, Wal-Mart does not believe it can provide universal coverage to its 1.3 million employees and compete. But interestingly, the unions which have fought hard to get employees health benefits agree that far too many employers cannot be expected to offer health care and compete in a global economy. Democrats have easily joined the ranks of those asking for a different system, but interestingly now noteworthy Republicans agree – including Howard Baker former Chief of Staff to Ronald Reagan.
So, what is to be done? There is no shortage of opinions about the solution (see article here). Many people want universal coverage from the federal government – but that has many detractors as well. Some states say a universal program should be implemented state-by-state, and Massachusetts has taken this direction. The President has offered to push for universal coverage with a series of changes to taxation of health care benefits. Lots of ideas – but most of these have existed for well over a decade. So it hasn’t been a lack of ideas that has stopped progress toward a different solution.
What we have with Wal-Mart’s announcement is a Disruption inside the business community. A Disruption saying "stop, we have to do something different here. The old way won’t work. We’re Locked-in to an outdated health care solution that must change." Having the country’s largest employer, in tandem with one of the largest unions, make this admission serves as a Disruption.
But this will make no difference if we don’t find White Space to actually create, test, pilot, learn, and define a new Success Formula for health care. Politicians often say "we need a debate on the options." Debates we’ve had. What we need is to try new solutions, and see if they work. We need to begin variations of the multiple scenarios so we can see what works, and what doesn’t. Massachusetts, for example, is a great experiment in a state-implemented program. But we also need to experiment with changes to the federal systems (Medicare and Medicaid) to see what they can actually do. And we need to experiment with subsidies and tax changes in the workplace to see what private programs can be developed. In the end, only in White Space do we actually test possible answers and thereby develop a new solution to which people migrate. The best solution is not the one debated to success, but instead the solution which is proven to work – and that is the solution to which people migrate. Anyone will change when they can see a better result, and that can only happen in White Space.
This is exactly what businesses have to do as well. The Phoenix Principle has demonstrated that whether a problem needs to be solved at the macro level (like national health care coverage) at an industry level (like national access to broadband telecommunications) or at a company, or function, work team or even an individual level Disruptions must be supplemented with White Space if a solution is actually to be developed and implemented. New solutions don’t come out of the universities or other "brain trusts". They come out of White Space where new Success Formulas that include strategies and tactics are actually tested and demonstrated to work. Then these new Success Formulas don’t have to be foisted upon people, because the better results attract people to them. Of course there are laggards, but we see that migration to a better result works far better than trying to debate, design, declare and then demand change – a model that almost never gets implemented nor works well.
So, we need White Space for experiments in health care coverage. And the state programs fit as one example. Let’s hope this Disruption will lead to more experiments. And we need more White Space in our companies, our departments and our lives so that we can experiment and find ways to produce better results. In the end, we can equate long-term success with White Space – and we’ve never needed more of it than we do today.
by Adam Hartung | Jan 28, 2007 | Disruptions, General, In the Rapids, Leadership, Openness
How can we recognize a Phoenix company? One that will sustain its success for a prolonged period? We can start by looking at the one and only company which has been on the Dow Jones Industrial Average ever since it was created. The one company that has overcome Schumpeter’s dire predictions of individual company failure, and demonstrated it is possible to earn above average rates of return for extended time and simultaneously grow. That company is General Electric.
A recent article on GE’s Medical Devices business (see article here) highlights key characteristics of how to overcome Lock-in to an existing Success Formula by internally Disrupting and using White Space. Mark Morita is the Manager for Disruptive Technologies within this GE business. Mark is not an engineer, nor is he in product development. GE recognizes that it must maintain a powerful group always focused on making incremental improvements in their products and markets. But, they simultaneously must have a Disruptive focus that can produce breakthrough results.
And that is where Mark comes in. Mark Disrupts the engineers by introducing technologies from entirely other fields. While they attend medical equipment conferences, Mark attends gaming and consumer electronics conferences. While they try to make sonogram machines that are 10% lighter or 10% cheaper, Mark looks for ways to make them the size of a GameBoy at less than half current cost. His role is not only tolerated in GE – it is mandated. All across the many GE businesses they maintain roles which are dedicated to attacking Lock-In and Disrupting the existing Success Formula. Mark and his counterparts constantly keep the GE businesses operating White Space to create new Success Formulas leading to growth.
Jack Welch, the famed former CEO of GE, had the nickname "Neutron Jack." This referred to his willingness to Disrupt GE in order to seek above average results and growth. No business was sacred in GE, and no market was beyond their reach. Welch constantly Disrupted GE from within, and kept Lock-in from leading to deteriorating performance. It wasn’t mere goal-setting that kept GE dynamic, it was an institutionalized practice of internal Disruption and extensive use of White Space. New CEO Jeffrey Immelt is now continuing that practice, with dramaticly large recent acquisitions of about 2/3 of Abbott Labs (medical diagnostic equipment) and Smiths Group (aerospace) while indicating he plans to sell the $10B plastics business (see article here).
Even a huge company, such as GE, can operate according to The Phoenix Principle and sustain success. The Phoenix Principle does not apply only to small companies, nor those in high-tech markets. Any company can achieve and sustain success if they are willing to identify their Success Formula and Lock-ins, attack those Lock-ins with programs designed to generate internal Disruptions, then fund White Space in which permission is given to develop new Success Formulas. These steps may seem mundane, but those who follow them can become the next GE – and that would not be a bad thing.
by Adam Hartung | Nov 22, 2006 | Disruptions, In the Rapids, Innovation, Leadership, Openness
When asked about companies that are great examples of Phoenix Principle companies I like to discuss Virgin. For years Virgin was considered a small company, but it is a great example of a small company that has become very, very big by following The Phoenix Principle. There is no doubt that the company founder, Richard Branson, had a lot to do with the company’s enormous success (just as Steve Jobs has had a huge impact on the success of Apple and Pixar). But we can look beyond the flamboyance of Branson to see that the success has had everything to do with avoiding Lock-in to a particular Success Formula and instead accepting Disruptions to constantly create and then manage White Space.
Virgin was founded as a "publishing" company, putting out its first magazine in 1968. In 1970 I guess you could say it became a "media" company as that’s when it entered mail-order music sales. By 1971 Virgin expanced into hard assets by opening its first retail record store, and then in 1972 opening its own studio to actually produce its own content, leading to the Virgin label introduction in 1973. In 1976, Success Formula expansion continued with the opening of a nightclub in 1977. In 1979 Virgin ignored the thinking of everyone else in the "music" industry by signing on The Sex Pistols – an outrageous band which made Virgin a well known label and very wealthy. By 1980, Virgin was pretty well established as a publishing/media/music company with enormous profits and great success. This could easily have Locked-in Virgin.
Then, in 1984 the company realized it had to expand or stagnate. But it didn’t select just one project. The company opened a potpouri of new White Space. Virgin Atlantic Airways was opened to haul passengers, and Virgin Cargo to haul goods. A hotel was opened in Deya, Mallorca. And Virgin Vision opened shop with a 24 hour satellite music channel. What do these have in common? Nothing more than each was a new opportunity to expand the company into high growth industries. The businesses did not even share the goodness of being in high margin businesses – as practically all were markets where profits were extremely rare to nonexistent. Thus, the second great Phoenix Principle axiom was applied. Virgin did not dictate how these projects would succeed. Rather, they were each given resources and permission to find a new Success Formula in markets where Locked-in competitors did poorly.
In 1994 Virgin Cola was launched as a company to compete with Coke and Pepsi. In 1996 Virgin opened Virgin Bridal, the first mass-retail approach to the formerly cottage industry of bridal shop goods. Virgin also partnered with a company winning the contract to build the Channel Tunnel rail link between the UK and Europe. In 1997 the company got into the rail business full bore with 15 lines in England and plans to expand. That year the company also launched Virgin Vie – a cosmetics company. And Virgin Direct banking was opened in the U.K. Why do I mention these? Because they were just some of the projects launched in the 1980s and 1990s that did not become wildly well known successes. Part of creating and managing White Space is trying things that don’t work out. Portfolio management says that we need a mix of projects, yet most organizations cannot stand the thought of investing in something that does not succeed. At Virgin, managing White Space does not just mean starting new things – it also means knowing when to sell or otherwise get out.
This all got my attention recently because Virgin America will be going into service soon, carrying air passengers across the U.S. (See full article in CIO Magazine here.) The project is a marvel at how to manage White Space, culled from decades of doing it well. Simplification is a cornerstone, as the new enterprise is ignoring long-held "beliefs" about what works with airlines – an industry in which 160 air carriers have gone bankrupt since the deregulation in 1978. Virgin relies heavily on vendors and contractors/consultants to get things done in the early days. Rather than use "industry standard" software packages for critical applications like bookings/reservations and scheduling they are literally building their own; and using Linux open source code rather than proprietary source from companies like Oracle or Microsoft. And much of the work is being done in India by companies that has never worked previously for an airline. Virgin is demonstrating that competing means doing what your competitors don’t – in order to be more flexible and develop a new competitive advantage.
Great companies are no accident. What they have in common is a willingness to Disrupt their Lock-in and use White Space to create new Success Formulas. Long-term, success does not come from understanding your "core competency" and optimizing it (if that were true Virgin would likely have followed the path of Playboy magazine or Sun records – the fabled company that launched Elvis but is now gone), but rather from overcoming market Challenges and developing new solutions to compete. To this day Virgin follows this path, fearing no new markets and entering with their own unique Success Formula developed in White Space. And anyone can participate, on the company web site is a link where you an submit your own Big Idea for consideration – always on the lookout for Disruptions and opportunities.
by Adam Hartung | Oct 2, 2006 | Disruptions, In the Swamp, Leadership, Lifecycle, Openness
Two very unlikely companies demonstrated this week that anyone can Disrupt and create White Space to develop a new Success Formula. IBM and General Motors both showed signs of what any company can do.
Last spring the leaders of IBM Disrupted their product development process when they opened it up to all employees, suppliers and their family members (read article here). As a result, they involved 53,000 people and generated 37,000 ideas. How, by simply asking for their input. CEO Palmisano attacked hierarchy and sacred notions of product development in high-tech, and as a result he achieved a breakthrough in the potential to redefine IBM’s Success Formula. Now IBM is creating White Space to develop those ideas, committing (in advance!) $100million for operation InnovationJam to see what can work. When Louis Gerstner wrote "Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance" about IBM’s turnaround he demonstrated that size does not preclude innovation and growth. And now that legacy is living on in a tremendous example of just what any company can do.
Even more surprising is what is happening at GM – a company I have unabashadly beat up on the last year. Yet, within the confines of a horribly Locked-in organization we now can see the use of White Space in product design (see complete article here.) As recently as 2001 the hierarchy gave vehicle line executives the say on a car’s appearance – the kind of analytical, cost saving process that produced such great autos as the Pontiac Aztek (don’t remember it? – that’s the point!). "Design had been relegated to putting a wrapper on something that everyone else had decided what the dimensions, the proportions and the interior package were going to be", according to design head Bob Lutz.
What’s different now? "Tom Peters, a GM designer for 22 years called Lutz a ‘breath of fresh air’ because he lets designers start with a fresh sheet of paper." Lutz was brought in, at almost age 70 mind you, by CEO Waggoner as a Disruption to the old hierarchy. As head of design, he reports outside the old hierarchy and directly to the CEO. And his dedicated budget was carved out of the old product groupls. Thus permission and resources were both granted up front, and Lutz has made the most of it.
Many people accept the notion that older companies are unable to change. Like somehow organizations are destined to Lock-in and eventually fail. Unfortunately there is no data to support that notion. The ability to Lock-in and fail is just as apparent in start-ups as in behemoths. And, behemoths can Disrupt and use White Space just as well as a start-up. IBM has shown it’s ability to do so, and we can hope they will keep up their efforts to again be reborn – continuously, like a Phoenix. GM has a much longer and tougher road, but it can be done. If they can just get the rest of the company to behave like Bob Lutz and his design group!
by Adam Hartung | Sep 20, 2006 | Disruptions, General, In the Rapids, Innovation, Leadership, Lifecycle, Openness
I recently blogged about the way Honda managed to be in so many markets, from lawn mowers to airplanes. Maybe not focused, just consistently growing revenues and profits. A very good thing for employees, suppliers, investors and customers.
In that vein, I was delighted yesterday to hear that Motorola is buying Symbol Technologies. Most analysts thought the acquisition "ho-hum" (see Chicago Tribune article here). But they should be excited, because in fact it demonstrates another clear move into White Space.
Most people would think of Motorola as a cell phone manufacturer. And there is no doubt that is their largest business. So, analysts get excited when Motorola talks about cell phones. But there is so much more to Motorola. Their last big acquisition was General Instrument in 2000 (before Ed Zander took over), growing their dominant business in set-top boxes and helping them grow their DVR business. Remember a fast-growing gadget called TiVo? That’s a DVR.
Now, Symbol gets Motorola into bar code readers, mobile computers and enterprise software for inventory management and retail. Included in this business is RFID systems, a new market that lots of people are trying to develop. You could challenge this kind of acquisition as being "off focus", but then you wouldn’t understand the importance of White Space. Here Motorola has just bought itself a nice business, at a good price, that it can use to explore expanding technologies and solutions for people on trucks, in warehouses, using all kinds of wireless technology. New markets, new technologies, new solutions – and even more important new customers.
This is not one of those "restructuring" acquisitions intended to drive up revenue through industry consolidation. This is bona fide expansion into new markets, and creation of more White Space. An effort that can create Disruption opportunities and help define a new Success Formula. All hallmarks of what has been turning Motorola around the last few months. Bravo to management for doing the right thing again!
by Adam Hartung | Sep 17, 2006 | Defend & Extend, Disruptions, General, Lock-in, Openness
I am not terribly mechanically inclined. Yes, I do work on lots of things I own, but I do not consider myself a skilled professional.
I was surprised recently when my 18 year old son told me he was going to buy an old Jeep. "But you already have an old Jeep I bought you" I said. "Yes," he told me "but I want the transmission out of this other one because it is much better for my V-8 than the original one installed. I can switch these transmissions and it will be better for both vehicles, and I should make some money on the situation."
I immediately recognized that this was not a simple job. Heck, he was talking about switching transmissions in two vehicles from different years with different engines and other configuration issues. What if things didn’t line up? What if they didn’t fit? "Son," I said "this is no simple job. I’m afraid it is beyond my skills these days. Do you know what you’re doing?"
To which I got a tremendous answer. "No dad," he said "I’m not sure what it will take. But I have enough money to pull off the job, even if things go really wrong and I have to change the clutch and many other parts. I have lined up a consultant (a professional mechanic) who will advise me on problems. And even though I’m not sure what to do, I’m confident I can figure it out. And, when I’m done, the Jeep I buy will be worth at least what I paid for it and my Jeep will be worth a lot more. I just need permission to tear into it."
Voila! White Space was requested. He didn’t have all the answers, but he was certain he could figure it out. And he had prepared all the resources. Not only to do the job, but what he would do for transportation while his machine was under repair. He had created personal White Space, and all he needed was to Disrupt my Lock-in – my Lock-in that said such a job required a "professional."
Now the transmissions are switched, and things are better all around. Why? Because he created some personal White Space – and I accepted the need for a little Disruption.
by Adam Hartung | Jul 22, 2006 | Disruptions, General, In the Swamp, Innovation, Leadership, Openness
Everyone wants an evergreen company – one that is constantly growing and self-renewing, generating more revenues and profits year over year. One such company is Illinois Tool Works. Have you heard of it? Do you know what they do?
One of the most important things ITW does is avoid Lock-in. ITW has no fixation with core markets, core customers, core products nor core competencies. In fact, the company is a collection of over 600 small businesses around the world, in a wide range of businesses. They don’t seek imagined synergy and push for consolidations and mergers, instead allowing each business to each maximally develop their customer opportunities and markets. Headquarters does not dictate the strategy or markets for these businesses. ITW doesn’t even try to limit its businesses to being in similar markets, functions, technologies or product lines.
What ITW does is consistently grow, and consistently make more money. For 90 years. Revenues grow at about 10%/year, earnings at about 15%/year and earnings per share about 14%/year.
How? Like I said, the company first and foremost avoids Lock-in. Leadership isn’t trying to follow fad definitions of new markets, or catch the latest wave of analyst hot buttons. They disrupt themselves by constantly looking into new markets, new technologies and new product opportunities. They don’t focus their acquisitions on cutting products or quickly generating more money with cost reduction, instead relying upon customers to help define how they can improve market performance leading to financial performance. By not seeking "optimization" of their acquisitions (like Tyco), they remain constantly in a disruptive state of enquiry. And each and every business is allowed to operate in its own White Space – free of dictates from a hierarchy or home office about how to succeed. Results are what matter at ITW – not slavish response to structural or behavioral Lock-ins.
And the company lauds innovation. Innovators are sought out, and rewarded. ITW is one of American’s largest patent filers, and patent holders, and it works hard to maintain that position – even if you’ve never heard of them. They want White Space projects in their businesses, and they reward the efforts as well as the results.
ITW defies all the rules of best management practice. They don’t optimize. They don’t "focus on the core." Instead they live without Lock-in, constantly innovate and Disrupt, and allow White Space to flourish all over the company. And for that they achieve innovation on the scale of an IBM, and returns like an old-fashioned (Jack Welch era) GE. And the result is an Evergreen Company that grows beyond average and makes above average rates of return.
by Adam Hartung | Jul 16, 2006 | Disruptions, In the Swamp, Leadership, Lock-in
There has been much written lately about Carlos Ghosn. Some are thinking that with Kirk Kerkorian’s urging, this fellow is likely to be the next head of GM. Of course, there’s a lot required for this to happen, but would it make any difference?
Mr. Ghosn is considered an auto industry turnaround expert. How? Does he ride in with a program to slash costs by cutting marketing and R&D and killing new products – vis-a-vis Chainsaw Al Dunlap of Scott Paper infamy? Does he randomly implement across the board cost cutting? Hardly.
At Nissan, he quickly disrupted the company by killing off the Japanese keiretsu system of long-term relationships.. This opened the door for a dramatic series of actions which threw the company into White Space. For example, new competitive bidding teams were created for sourcing, and a wave of innovation programs were started. In one year, the company went from a loss to a record profit. That has been followed with 6 years of record profits.
Never one to stop disrupting, Mr. Ghosn recently took the dramatic action of moving Nissan’s U.S. headquarters from Southern California – the legacy location of headquarters for all Japanese auto companies – to Nashville, TN, much closer to the company’s plants. While this has upset a lot of industry watchers, there is no doubt he has used the move to change the leadership and the processes of Nissan U.S.A.
If he follows the same plans at GM, Mr. Ghosn could be a tremendously beneficial change for America’s largest car company. Like Ed Zander when he arrived at Motorola, Ghosn is likely to Disrupt the status quo, and implement White Space. Being a master disruptor is one of the most valuable traits of a good leader. Especially one needing to turnaround a behemoth. Just look at the Disruptions implemented by Lou Gerstner at IBM, which saved the company from the brink of disaster.
Given the incapability of GMs leadership to attack its Lock-in and create White Space for generating future opportunities, there is no doubt change is needed. Given his record, Mr. Ghosn would make dramatic change in GM by attacking its Lock-in and implementing White Space. And that would be good for everyone. If Mr. Ghosn gets the top job at this venerable company, give investing in GM another long hard look.
(Link here for more information on Mr. Ghosn courtesy of the Chicago Tribune.)
by Adam Hartung | Jul 8, 2006 | Disruptions, General, In the Swamp, Leadership, Lifecycle
General Motors has seen its stock value grow almost 40% in the last 3 months. Why? Many analysts and investors believe that GM management has been Disrupted, and is moving into White Space for new solutions to its problems.
Is it for real? Well, first the Disruption. Kirk Kerkorian bought almost 10% of GM and then put his representative on the Board. As outsiders, they have been screaming for change in how management leads the company. And it has started making a difference, as GM has started doing several things differently.
GM has changed some of its approaches to workers. Its recent employee buyout was 30,000 oversubscribed indicating a successful tactic for both the company and labor. And, GM is working with Delphi (its largest parts supplier) and the union to create a unique solution to the bankrupt company’s problems. Lastly, GM leadership is now entering talks with Renault and Nissan to possibly create a new merged company.
Successful White Space requires (1) permission to discover new solutions outside the historical Lock-in. This seems to be happening in some of these fledgling projects. Successful White Space also requires (2) committed resources in advance to develop the new Success Formula. That we have not yet seen. While there is progress being made to sell GMAC and raise additional cash, we haven’t yet seen the commitment to actually invest in White Space and create a more competitive future. Until we see management internally Disrupt itself, following Mr. Kerkorian’s lead, we won’t likely see real investment or commitment to creating a new Success Formula.
If the outcome of negotiations with unions, and other companies, is just more cost reduction in support of the old Success Formula then Mr. Kerkorian’s Disruptions will be for nought. Combining GM, Renault and Nissan just to achieve additional "scale" will do no more to create value than combining KMart and Sears. What’s required is the creation of a new company that is more attuned to customers, designs cars better, gets them to market faster and creates more profit on smaller unit volume. And that will require lots of White Space projects with wide permission to change and extensive resources.
