*Technology and the Hedgehog Concept
Technology‐induced change is nothing new. The real
question is not, what is the role of technology? Rather, the real question is,
how do good‐to‐great organizations think differently
about technology?
The good‐to‐great
companies slowly adapted the technology to fit their Hedgehog Concept. Gillete
– Pioneered application of sophisticated manufacturing technology for making
billions of high‐tolerance
products at low cost with fantastic consistency. They protect manufacturing
technology secrets with same fanaticism that Coca‐Cola protects its formula. The cumulative
value of $1 invested in Gillete in 1976 was worth $95.68 in 1996.
*Technology as an Accelerator, Not a
Creator, of Momentum
When used right
technology becomes an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it. The goo‐to‐great
companies never began their transition with pioneering technology, for the
simple reason that you cannot make good use of technology until you know which
technologies are relevant. And which are those? Those – and only those – that
link directly to the three intersecting circles of the Hedgehog Concept.
The relationship
to technology is no different from the relationship to any other category of
decisions. Technology alone cannot create sustained great results.
*Technology Trap
Mediocrity results
first and foremost form management failure, not technology failure. Evidence
from the study does not support the idea that technological change plays the
principal role in the decline of once‐great
companies. Technology is never the primary cause of either greatness or
decline.
*Technology
and the Fear of Being Left Behind Great companies respond with thoughtfulness
and creativity, driven by a compulsion to turn unrealized potential into
results; mediocre companies react and lurch about, motivated by fear of being
left behind. No technology can make you level 5. No technology can turn the
wrong people into the right people. No technology can create a culture of
discipline.
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