Hubris and Inefficiency: Unraveling the Delusions of Exceptionalism in Successful Companies

𝗫𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘅
Did you know they were the first to invent the PC?
Unfortunately, the management thought going digital would be too expensive and they never bothered to exploit the opportunities they had.

𝗬𝗮𝗵𝗼𝗼
Yahoo was one of the main players in the online advertising market. The company decided to focus more on becoming a media giant. They refused to buy Google and Facebook.

𝗝𝗖𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘆
An American department store, JCPenney, maintained one of the largest catalogue retail businesses in the US. Their stores used to be the place where you went to buy clothes for work, church, and children. But when the market around them was changing, JCPenney couldn’t find its new niche and faced an identity crisis.

How Successful companies loose their edge

3️⃣ Do we have a collective delusion we are exceptional?
This has abolished humility and
created inefficiencies.

The company believes its processes are the best in the world.

Despite other companies using different ways to achieve similar success.

Do we have antiquated internal processes that
– hinder productivity and
– focuses on customer success only for high-paying customers?

Does it leave other customers with inadequate support?

Do our values align with our actions?

Don’t use propaganda internally and externally to maintain the delusion.