Fast and lean has a nice ring to it, but it’s not a claim many companies can make. While some organizations have speeded up their innovation and formation of new businesses, they’re the exceptions. Most are still bogged down in bureaucracy and old modes of doing things. That’s a recipe for trouble. “There are two kinds of businesses: the quick and the dead,” warns analyst Bruce Richardson of tech industry consultancy AMR Research Inc. That’s probably an overstatement. But in an era in which once-mighty dinosaurs are struggling to survive, the alternative to fast and lean may soon be…gone.
Steve Hamm has an interesting BusinessWeek cover story on how some organisations are adapting to a faster world as markets transition from 3-5 year cycles to 6-12 month spins. Podcast here of the story behind the story. Recommended reading and listening.
