Fragility’s Gift
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In theory, a company’s problems may come from outside.
But in my decades of business, I have never seen that.
Say a disaster hits the world or a specific market. Everyone gets shaken. But one business folds, another drifts, while a third reinvents itself.
Why does chaos crush some but give others superpowers?
Imagine a forest where a bear grows old or a deer breaks a leg. Does it matter if they’re taken down by a competitor for food, a drought, or a virus?
The real danger isn’t chaos but the fragility of the “system”.
Why does a company become fragile? There are plenty of reasons:
- A mismatch between responsibility and authority.
- Conflict between the founder and investors.
- Punishing initiative and a lack of new ideas.
- Loss of control and unchecked behavior.
- Replacing common sense with ideology.
- Eating away at reserves.
- Complacent leadership.
- Lack of vision, and so on.
An external shock doesn’t create problems but highlights existing ones. Blaming chaos means clinging to infantilism.
You have a choice: curse the external factor or be thankful.
Gratitude is the door to maturity from the cage of infantilism.
Moreover, with this attitude, you don’t need to wait for a disaster.
It’s better to deal with Chaos’s ambassador.
Such a company constantly asks where it is vulnerable.
What seeks to break the system ends up making it healthier.
A paradox.
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
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